Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1940 )

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
G@D c.MANN
,-*m OI*mnAL
Honorabk Char108 A. Toroh
COUntl AUdiOor
Dallan Oounty
Dellas, Tolea
Dear sir:
wo hat0 four let , whioh x-o@&
a8 follev8r
d in 8ooi5ionas
l p a nta b under
“1 viii thank you r0r your opl.nionaa to
tha ooPrtitutloaalit~of this law, l8peolallr
a8 to Seotion a5 of th aboro mentioned law.*
The apparmt introtion of 8oetfon Eb, abevo quoted,
162; so;~hooieotho Btato Dopartmoat of Ftlbllio
Wokfare te
dopondonb and aoodr poreon aad farilio8,
o whether t&y ~ual.lf~&ntlorthe 8~00ili0
!zreapootlto %P
‘X38
Hsnorablo Charles A. To8sh, Page g
oategorlae enumorated by the Wolfare Aot, i.e., old ago
aesi8tanoe. needy blind. de~endoritand dortitute ohlldren.
and aid aanletired by-Tex&e Relief Comm.leeion. Whethar'
the Loglalature 18 lmpowored to grant aid to all dopeadeUt
end needy pereone ral8es a eerlou8 o0netltutional quertiion.
Article 3, Seotlon 61, of the Constitutionof Tox-
as, prorldee in part:
"The Legislature shall bars no powor
to sake any grsnt or authorize the making
of any grant of publio money8to any in-
dIVIdU&i, U8sOOiatIOIIOf tidITidUal8,
rrmnloipalor other oorporatl0n8 whateoover,
* * **(t
Tht8 eeotlon then oontlnuee, to puke prorialon
express exception to the first eentenoe abovr Quoted)
payaent of Confederate pen8lon8. .
The followlag rubreotionr of Sootion 51 oi Ar-
tlole 3, hare omed addItiona exproks8eraoptions out Of
the prohlbttlon of the first lenteno e. Sootion 81a author-
lmod the ieeuanoe ot ~40,000,000 of bona8 for relies as
admlnletoredby the Tern8 Relist ConraLti~eion.Seetlon bib
authorisee the LegIelaturs to provldo otd age aaolstaaoo
with oortaln limitation8 to ottizen8 0181:55 ~oare of age.
Section 510 aathorieen aid to the needy bllad. Seation
516 authorizes ald to destitute ohlldrea.
By the very fast that the Conrtltutlon, a8 aaead-
ea, provides expreeely tor 8tat.o aid to Oonfedorato foteran8,
the aged, tho needy blind aad dr8titute ohildroa, It fol-
low8 by the rule of uexpre8eIa tmiue, lxQlU8io ~a lto r iUea
that aid to all others is prohibited by Artlole 5, Sootioa
The Supreme Court OS Texas has repeatodly annouaoeb
k thta ooaetitutlonelprorieloa forbide the u8e Of St&e
aoaeg ror any but the purposes authorized by the Oonetltu-
tioa.
Chlaf Justice
Phfllipr, 8peakiQg Of SeOtiQn 51
of iirtlole3, In Bsxar county V. Llndoa, 110 Tu. NO,
beSore the adoptioa of the a@waQnente Bla, bib, 310 and
fiia,deolarod:
"Thi8 reotian oleerly reoogninoe only li
soldier8 and mlloro of the ConfedoraoY,
their wiro8 and wiaow8, aad women who aibod
Honorable Cherloe IL.Toech, iago 3
in the Coa.federaoy,as having any olaim
._
upon the bounty of the
purooee is to deny to the
gower to grant or to authorlmo the me&t
of vubllo money to all &here. lbeolutely.
"The giving away of pub110 money, lte
appllcstion to other thau etrlotly govem-
Zi4lltal pUTPO8*8, 18 whet the pPOYi81OU 18
fnteaded to guard against. The prohfbltlon
is R positive and abnolute one lxoopt as to
a dietlnotlvo class to whoa the State in
under a eacrcd obligation." (mlpha818ourn)
In Road Dietriot Ho. 4, Shelby County v, Allred,
183 Tsx. 77, 58 8. W. (aa) 164, Judge Crltz, of the CoBBPIn-
eion of Appeclle,rSafilrn44 the favlolability of ~rtfole 5,
Seation 51 in the r0uaring language;
*It 18 eottlea law of this State,that
the abore quoted eoaetitutional provielon
18 lntendod to guard cigainnt -4 prohlblt
the granting, or giving away, of pub118
umey, eroapt for etrlotly gov4rnaonte.l
purposes. The prohibition is eu ab8oluto
oae, exoept as to the olarreexempted thore-
from, an6 op@ratoe to prohibit the Logir-
mar0 rroa makiag gretuitoue donetioue to
all kinds of oorperetionn, private or pob-
110, inunloipelor polltloal."
In thin oonneotion, it in well alao to ooaelder
Artiole 15, sootion 6, of the Texas Conet~tutlon, whleh pro-
ride8 la part:
'Iloappro,priationfor private or ln-
dlvidual purpose shall bo medo."
It oen hardly be doubted, in the light of the fore-
going authoritien that Section 85 of the Pub110 Wolfare Aot
of lOgO contravene8 both the letter end spirit oi Art1018 3.
Seotion 61 of tho Texas Conetltutios, in that it eeeke to
authorieo the payiaentof stat* mcmey to private Qerson8
other than thoeo oontemplated by the eeverel amen&tent8 to
the srotloa.
There in yet another 0oapellfagrsa6oZIwhioh ha8
Ied us to this oonolueioa.Tha attenp0ed largess and beaev-
olenoe of the Legislature erprresed in 8eotion E5 may not be
Honorablb Choler A. Toaooh, Page 4
motained on tha theory that tha State would thereby be
dlrchar~ng its fnheront Obligetfon to elf8 for pauper8,
The perlomame of tblr duty ha8 bren delegated to the
leveral oountier by t&a ~Cotutitution in uOia10 16, Sea-
tion 8:
‘16aahooUty in the LEtatema~rprovide,
in oudh nanmr aa may be preroribed by law,
a Msnnll Labor Poor Hou80 and Farm, ror
taklag 0-0 of, managing, erqplo&ag and
supplying the wants or it8 indigent and
poor lnhabitslatr .w
This exptrse provielon in the Constitution, pre-
saribing the zaannerin which the lndi&nt oi thir State,
ehall be oated for, praoAudee, we believe, rerort to eny
other method short of a ooErrtlt~t1ona.l ameabaemt, Thl8
rpl0 or oomttruetion was annouaao4 by Judge Dovldeon in
3x Part0 xamey, 49 Cr. B. 60, $8 s. 1. 1OSa;
*Itlr a wall-kncmn rule, saaotioned
by ell legal authority, that whore the
Conatltution provfdrs how a thing may OP
Oh411 be done, such spsclrioatisx% fa a
prohibition a(LliU8tits be!.ugdone io auy
other maunor. Thir lo but the applioakian
or the riualllar rule that the erpresolon
or one thing io the exclusion or any qther.
an& therefore is aeoiaive of legielatlve
authoritf.”
While dooisiona of other @satea are not control-
lm ia eou8trulng the Texas 0onetitutfon, w* believe the
r0iitming lmguag* or the skxprmwcourt 0r mnn8ylvania
in Bueser v. Snyder, 128 A. 80, at 86, ia agspl.icable to
the puecrtian bsrore UQ hers;
** * * a direot approprlution rrom the
State treaeury to any psreon or 01138sor
personr oannot be euetalmnd on the theory
that it is R Gisoharge or the Lnhereat
0bligation or the 3tat0 to take cam 0r
ita paupers.~
The osne~usion we hsve reaohed rinaa rurther rup-
port lizthe ‘&&r~areAOD itsolf. seotlan 43 tbereoi read@
in gumt:
Fionorable Charlea A. Toaoh, Page S
“‘No provision or this Act is intended
to releuclo the counties and municipalltiea
in this ;itote rrom the lpeolflo responai-
bility which ia ourrmtly borne by those
oountlea and muuioipalitler in support or
pub110 welfare, child welfare, and relief
aervldea.”
It in our oonslaored opinion that seation 85 of
the Walfara not of 1999 is invalid aa belng in violation
or Article 5, Seotion Sl of the Texas Conrrtlttation. seo-
tion ES ie readily reverable from the remainder of the
Act without impairing or arfeoting the other ~ovislona
or dereating the general purpoee of the antlre Aot. Sao-
tlon 41 expressly provide0 agalnat partial invalidity
arreoting the ramafning portlonr or the Aot. Though we
have not atteaptea to ooaslaor tha Aot In alnuta detail,
we regard it aa valid with the exoeption of Sootion 85,
in the aboenoa or having our attention oalled to say
other partloular provloion.
Yours very truly
A'f"roRarBY
GKU~RALOF TXAS