Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1947 )


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  •                                  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
    

Document Info

Docket Number: V-294

Judges: Price Daniel

Filed Date: 7/2/1947

Precedential Status: Precedential

Modified Date: 2/18/2017