Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1970 )

Honorable Martin Dies, Jr. Opinion No. M- 669 Secretary of State Capitol Station Re: Travel allowance and per diem Austin, Texas for members of the American Revolution Bicentennial Dear Sir: Commission of Texas. In your recent letter you requested the opinion of this office as to the travel allowance and per diem that may be paid under the provisions of Senate Bill Number 701, Acts of the 61st Legislature, Regular Session, 1969 (codified as Article 6145-8, Vernon's Civil Statutes), to members of the American Revolution Bicentennial Commission of Texas. Paragraph B of Section 1 of that bill makes provision for travel allowance and per diem for such members. Paragraph A of Section 4 of the bill appropriates money to the commission. Paragraph B of Section 1 reads as follows: “Members of the commission shall be reimbursed for mileage and per diem only, and shall receive no other compensation, perqufslte or allowance. The mileage shall be the same as allowed to members of the Legislature, to wit, ten cents per mile, to and from the place of meetfng and their respective places of residence. The per diem thall be Twenty-five Dollars per day or fraction thereof. We are of the opinion that in providing for mileage at ten cents per mile the Legislature Intended to deal only with Intrastate mileage from a member's place of resfdence to a meeting place In Texas, for the reason that the draftsman was careful to equate this allowance with the travel allowance provided for members of the Legislature when traveling to Its meeting place. Therefore, this statute as enacted will govern the mileage allowed when a member travels from his place of residence to a meeting of the commission; and he will be allowed ten cents per mile regardless of his mode of travel. Article 6145-8 fs silent as to other travel, hence other travel, such as a trip co Washington for a conference, will be -3194- - . Hon. Martin Dies, page 2 (M-669) governed by the provisions of Article 6828a, Vernon's Civil Statutes, enacted as the 'Travel Regulations Act of 1959. Section 3(a) of Article 6828areads, In part, as follows: "Reimbursement from funds appropriated by the Legislature for traveling and other necessary ex- penses incurred by the various officials, heads of state agencies, and employees of the state in the active dlscharae of their duties shall be on the basis of either a per diem or actual expenses as speclflca'Ily-flxedand appropriated by the LegEla- ture in General Appropriation Acts. . . .I' The Legislature has made provision for certain trans- portation allowances under House Bill Number 2, the General Ap- propriation Act enacted by the 61st Legislature, Second Called Session, 1969. Article V, Section 13(b) of that Act reads, in part, as follows: 'An employee traveling by rented or public conveyance, or the commercial transportation company furnishing same, is entitled to a trans- portation allowance equal to the actual cost of necessary transportation for performing official business. . . .ll We are of the opinion, therefore, that a member of the commission who travels to Washington or other out-of-state points on official business by commercial transportation is entitled to reimbursement of his actual cost of transportation. Article 6145-8 clearly provides a twenty-five dollar per diem for members of the commission. We are of the opinion that this statute Is controlling and that a member of the com- mission is therefore entitled to a per diem of twenty-five dollars per day or fraction thereof which he devotes to official commission business. General law would provide actual expenses for members of the commission when on official business, as they could qualify as heads of a state agency under Article 6823a, Section 2 and Article V, Section 16, of the General Appropriations Act. Article 6145-8 is a special enactment, however, and controls where there is a conflict with general law in the matter of per diem allowance. SUMMARY Under Article 6145-8, Vernon's Civil Statutes, a member of the American Revolutfon Bicentennial -3195- . - Hon. Martin Dies, page 3 (M-669) Commission of Texas, when on official business of the commission, Is entitled to be reimbursed at the rate of ten cents per mile when traveling within the state to a meeting of the commission; such member Is entitled to his actual cost of transportation when traveling to points outside the state, and In either case Is entitled to a per diem of twenty-five dollars for each day or fraction thereof. truly y urs, _ c , zif* RD C. MARTIN ney General of Texas Prepared by James S. Swearingen Assistant Attorney General APPROVED: OPINION COMMITTEE Kerns Taylor, Chairman W. E. Allen, Co-Chairman A. J. Gallerano Terry Reed Goodman Wardlow Lane Ivan Williams MRADE F. GRIFFIN Staff Legal Assistant ALFREDWALKRR Executive Assistant NOLA WHITE First Assistant -3196-