Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1947 )

OFFICE OF
THE ATTORNEY ,GENIERAL(
PRICE DANIEL
ATTORNEYGENERAL
July 1, 1947
Hon. A. 0. Willman oDlnlon No. v-294
Veterans’ State Service office
bina Office Building Status o?
Be: Status o? Vet-
Austin 14, Texas erahs’ State
service-office
under H.B; ~:18,
50th Legis;, es-
tabllshlllg a
Veterans’ Af-
fairs commls~ion.
Dear Sir:
Your statement and request for an opinion are
In part as follows:
*On June 12, 1947, Governor Beauford Jester
signed House Bill No. 18, whleh creates a
Commlsslon of Veterans Affairs. Thisbill
was passed In the House with 112 votes and
In the Senate with 23 votes, making the law
immediately effeetlve upon the Governor’s
signature.
“Seation 11 states In part ‘It Is the ln-
tent and purpose of this Act that the func-
tions heretofore performbed by the State
Service Office of the State of Texas shall
be absorbed by the Veterans’ Commlsslon,
as created herein. 1
We ‘also quote Section I.2 of the Law: *A&I-
proprlatlons. At such time as the funotiona
and services now performed by the Veterans’
State Service Officer, are takea over and ab-
sorbed by the Veterans’ Affairs Commission
hereby created, then all unexpended balanoes
in all funde heretofore and hereafter appro-
priated to the Veterans State Servloe Offlae
are hereby reappropriated to the Veterans’
Affairs Commission, to be expended in aaaord-
ante with the prwlsions of the departaental
Hon. A. 0. Xvillman - Page 2 .(V-294)
appropriations bills, making the appro-
priation to the Veterans’ State Service
Office provided that the Veterans’ Affairs
Commission shall have the authority to
change within the total amounts approprla-
ted herein the designation of service of-
ficers ana assistant service officers and
their reassignment to cOnform with any
changes In the location of Veterans Admln-
lstratlon regions, veterans hospitals, and
similar establishments, and be It further
provided that the assistant service offl-
cers designated In the available approprla-
tlon may be authorized to handle any and
all veterans claims as ordered by the Vet-
erans’ Gommlsslon. *
‘QmSlTOR: Is It possible to spend
any amounts In the name of the Vet-
erans State Service Ofrioe for sala-
ries, travel, supplies, eta.
“QTJWI’IOB: will It be possible for
employees of the present Veterans
State Service Office to be paid sal-
aries In the name of the Veterans
Affairs ~ommlaslon, and If so, who
will be the authority responsible
for signing payrolls, requisitions,
etc.”
House Bill 18 of the 50th Legislature areated
the Veterans’ Affairs Commission of the-State of Texas
and provides for Its membership, duties, expenses and Dl-
reator.
Sections 11 and 12 of said bill read In part
as r0ii0ws:
“Intent. It Is the Intent and pur-
pose of the Act that the functions here-
tofore performed by the State Service Of-
fice of the State of Texas shall be ab-
sorbed by the Veterans’ Affairs Comm~lon,
as created herein.
“Sec. 12. Appropriations. At such
time as the run&Ions and seivloes now per-
?ormed by the Veterans’ State Service Of-
Hon. A. 0. Willman - Page 3 (V-294)
.
``flcerare taken over and absorbed by the Vet-
erans’ Affalrs Commission hereby created,
then all unexbendea balances in all funds
heretofore and hereafter appropriated to the
Veterahs’ State Service Office are hereby-
reappropilated to then Veterans’ Affairs Com-
mission . . .” (Emphasis supplied)
It Is clear from the above wordingof the stat-
ute that the Legislature aid not Intend, upon-H. B. 18 be-
comlzg law, that the Veterans’, State Service Office would
be lmmedlatelg abolished. It Is manifest from the laaguage
of the Act that the Intention was that the Veterans’ State
Service Office would continue to function until H. B. 18
could become operative, at which time the old ageney would
be absorbed by the new. In the absenoe of any alreot judl-
cla’l Interpretation of the language under construotlon,
the use or the words In their normal sense would seem to
afford the best guide to the legislative Intent. In thla
regard, Words and Phrases, Vol. 1, p. 166 defines vabeorb*
as r0li0w8:
“To join together, to coalesce, to unite.
Hoget in his Thesaurus classifies the word
foomblnel as synonyfsous with or belonging
to the same class as unite; incorporate;
amalgamate ; absorb; blend; merge; fuse;
eentrallze; melt ,lnto’ one; to put together;
to lwnp together . . .”
Using thls Interpretation as a standard It is obvious that
the Legislature meant that the Veterans’ State SeniOe~..Uf-
floe would continue In existence until, from a standpoint
or practicability, It could be fused with the Veterans’ Af-
fairs Commlsslon.
39 Texas Jurisprudence, Sec. 69, p. 132, etatee
the rule as follows:
“In oonstrulng a repealing clause, the oourt
will be governed by the Ordinary rules of
statutory Interpretation. It will endeavor
to ascertain and give effect to the legisla-
tive latent .*
59 Corpus Jurls, Sec. 568, p. 948 thus
states, It:
Hon. A. 0. iYill~n -,Page 4 (V-224)
.
VThe fundamental rule of construotlon,
to which all other rules are subordl-
nate, Is that the court shall, by all
alds~avallable, asoertaln and glve er-
feet, unless It Is In conflict with
constitutional provlalons, or la lnoon-
slstent with the organic law of the
state, to the Intention-or purpose of
the legislature. . ." '.
An analogous situation was presented In an
Instance where the Legislature -- as It has done on red
peated oocaslons ----passed a law that became operative,
not at the time of the passing of the bill, but at a
reasonable future date. In the Texas ease of Chambers
v. Baldwin, 274 s. w. 1011, the court said:
*The Legislature Is free to fix In eaoh
aot the time It shall take effect and
may provide that It shall take effect
In whole,or In part from Its passage,
approval, or at a fixed date. . . The
power to create necessarily includes the
power to oreate In whole or In part and
to take effect as determined at an lm-
mediate or deferred t1me.e
This principle was also followed In the Texas case of
Ex Parte Murphy, 11 S.W. 487 where the court said:
n . . It was not the legislative ln-
t&G that the act should lmedlately
take effeot, but that It should become
operative only at a time when It would
not deprive any county In the district
two terms or court."
In the light of the foregoing authorities
It clearly appears that the Intention of the Legislature
was to continue the Veterans' State Service Office In
operatlon.as originally provided for, and with the same
authority, until Its functions were *taken over" and "ab-
sorbed" by the Veterans' Affairs Commlsslo~.
You are therefore advised that it Is possible
to spend money In the name of the Veterans' Servioe Office
for salaries, travel, supplies, etc. as heretofore done,
and your first question Is answered In the affirmative.
Hon. A. 0. Willman - Page 5 (V-894)
By the same reasoning it Is equally ap]7arent
that the intended absorption of the Veterans’ State Ser-
vice Offloe by the Veterans’ Affairs Commission contem-
plates and exjmessly provides for reappropriation or funds
so as to pay salaries of the present Veterans’ State user-’
vice Employees who shall then be entitled to compensation.
In particular, the designation that the total balanoe shall
be turned over without directing a speolflo mode of spend-
ing Is lndloative of the faot that the new.ponualsslon shall
have wide discretion ih uging .lts funds. It wlll have
these”balancbs at Its disposal but will not be bound by
the specific allotments under the appropriation to the Vet-
erans’ State Service Office. In other words, at the time
the Veterans’ Affairs Commission begins to function; the
reappropriated funds will be handled as If the Legialafure
had appropriated the funds to It In the first instance.
The new agency Is empowered to make changes and reasslgn-
merits, but will, of course, be bound to pay present em-
ployees for services rendered under the now exlating sys-
tem.
The Veterans’ State.Servlce Office la
authorized under H. B. 18~, 50th Legis., to
oontlnue,to function as such with authority
to make expenditures in the’nsme of the Vet-
erans’ State Servloe,. Office, until It oan be
“taken over* and wabeorbedW by the Veterans’
Affairs Commlsslon.
Yours very truly,
APPROVED: ATTORNEY
GBFlEBBL
OF TEEM
i!$ihk& BY’ 7fLuw
Ro.ert A. Hall
Assistant
RAH:ff:wb