Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1974 )

OF TEXAS
May 3, 1974
The Honorable Gene Riddle Brownrigg Opinion No. H- 294
Executive Director
American Revolution Bicentennial Commission
of Texas Re: Whether members of the
P. 0. Box (2366 American Revolution
Austin, Texas 78711 Commission are entitled
to the twelve-cent mile-
age reimbursement
afforded members of the
Legislature in House Bill
Dear Ms. Brownrigg: 139, 63rd Legislature
The American Revolution Bicentennial Commission was created by
a statute enacted in 1969 (Acts 1969, 61st Leg., R..S., ch. 868, p. 2620),
now found as Article 6145-8, Vernon’s Texas Civil Statutes.
Section 1B’protides:
“Members of the commission shall be reimbursed
for mileage and per diem only, and shall receive no
other compensation, perquisite or allowance. The mile-
age shall be the same as allowed to members of the Legis-
lature, to wit, ten cents per mile. . . .”
The temporary Appropriations Act for September I, 1969. to October
31, 1969 (Acts 1969, 61st Leg., 2d C.S., ch. 49, p. 221) allowed members
of the Legislature the same ~mileage allowance as provided for other State
officials and employees, i. e., tencents per mile [Ibid. Article V, 5 13(a) and
$16(d)]. The same rates were maintained in the Appropriations Acts for fis-
cai1970 and 1971 (Acts 1969, blat Leg., 2d C.S., ch. 50, p. 623); for fiscal
1972 (Acts 1971, 62nd Leg., R. S., ch. 1047, p. 3421) and for fiscal 1973 (Acts
1972, 62nd Leg., 3rd C.S., ch. 1, p. 15).
p. 1370
The Honorable Gene Riddle Brownrigg, page 2 (H-294)
However, the General Appropriations Act for fiscal 1974 and 1975
(Acts 1973, 63rd Leg., ch. 659, p. 1786) allows a mileage rate of 12 cents
per mile, not only for members of the Legislature [Article V. § 15(c), p.
22071 but also for state employees [Article V, 5 12(a), p. 22041.
The Appropriations Act for fiscal 1974 and 1975 (supra) does contain
an appropriation for your commission for travel expenses, but there is no
legislation, general or special, other than the quoted provisions of Article
6145-8, V. T. C. S., bearing upon the mileage allowance to be granted Com-
mission members.
Your question is whether the Commissioners are entitled to the 12-
cent mileage.
In construing the language of Article 6145-8, V. T. C. S., which we
have quoted, our ,duty is clear. In Trimmier v. Carlton, 296 S.~W. 1070
(Tex. 1927), the Supreme Court, when faced with a similar problem, said:
“Statutes which refer to other statutes and make
them applicable to then subject of legislation are called
‘reference statutes, ’ and are a familiar and valid mode
of legislation. The general rule is that when a statute
is adopted by a specific descriptive reference, the adop-
tlon takes the statute as it exists at that time, and the
subsequent amendment thereof would not be within the
terms of the adopting act. But when the language of the
adopting act is such as to evidence an intention on the
part of the Legislature that the act as it then existed and
as it might thereafter be amended was to be adopted,.then
the courts will give effect to that intention, and theadopted
act and amendments thereto will be held to be within then
meaning of the adopting act and to govern the subject
matter thereof. . . .‘I (296 S. W. at 1074)
See also St. Paul Mercury Ins. Co. v. Billiot, 342 S. W. 2d 161 (Tex. Civ.App.,
Beaumont, 1960, err. ref’d.); Sutherland Statutory Construction (4th Ed. 1973)
$51.08, p. 324.
p. 1371
The Honorable Gene Riddle Brownrigg, page 3 (H-294)
Had the statute in question provided no more than that members of
the Commission were to receive the same mileage as allowed to members
of the Legislature, we would have had little difficulty in concluding that,
as the allowance of the Legislature rose, so also did the allowance to the
n-embers of the Commission.
But, the Legislature in enacting Article 6145-8 was not. content to
refer to the legislative allowance. Instead, it added the words: “to wit,
ten cents per mile.”
“To wit” means “that is to say; namely. ” Blacks Law Dictionary
(4th Ed. 1951); Webster6 International Dictionary (3rd Ed. 1967). And see
cases collected 4lA. Words and Phrases, “to wit, ” p. 450.
As we read Article 6145-8, “ten cents per mile” defines more speci-
fically what was meant by the preceding phrase. It is our conclusionthat
the Legislature intended that members ,of the Commission receive ten cents
per mile until and unless specifically changed by legislative enactment.
SUMMARY
Under present legislation, members of the
American Revolution Bicentennial Commission are
to receive ten cents per mile reimburse,ment for
the use of their private automobiles on official business.
Attorney General of Texas
DAVID M. KENDALL, Chairman
Opinion Committee
p. 1372