Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1953 )


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  •                      December 31,   1953
    Wm. B. B. Sapp
    Dlwctor and Executive SecretarT
    Teacher Retirement System of Texan
    Auet Lo, Texas
    Opialon NO. s-119
    Re:    %mployineutof retired
    members of the Teacher
    Retirement System in
    Dew   Mrs. Saw:                     the pnbllc schools.
    You have requested an oplnlon on the conetltution-
    ality of Chapter 423, Acte of the 53rd Laglalature, 1953,
    vhlch amends Subeectlon 1 of Section 5 of Article 2922-1,
    Vernon’s Civil Statutes (Teacher Retirement Act) laeofrr a.8
    it eliminates from this subsection the following provision:
    II. . . Any member who has accepted retire-
    ment benef-itsunder--the  ,-termsof the Teacher Re-
    ~tlremeatSystem of Texas may be employed la the
    Public Schools of Texas;    provided howevap, that
    during eald time a rtt&red .aember Is 80 employed,
    ret iremeat benefit.paywent tihatvould     otheFaise~
    have -been paid to said retired   member ahal. be
    suepended and shall be rueumed again when said re-
    tired m&bar l-eavesnald employment; provided fur-
    ~thur,  that during the t&ma said retired ,memberIs
    ~.so~arployed  that no retlrsment ~deductlons shall be
    made f-m hie salary, and that retirement benefIts
    to be paid to eald ret%&      member after employment
    is diecontinued and ret~kement benefits are resumed
    ehall be paid In the same amount as were paid to
    said retired member on the original retirement;
    provided further, that during the time that said
    retired member is 80 employed both the membership
    annuity payments and the prior serv.iceannuity
    payments to which said retired member would have
    bean entitled had he not 80 returned    to emplomt    ,
    shall be transferred to the State Memberahlp ACCU-
    mulation Fund of Teacher Retirement System of Texas.”
    . -. .
    Mrs. B. B. Sapp, page 2 (S-119)
    The title of Chapter 423,   as here applicable, reads:
    “An act amending Subsections 1 . . . of Sec-
    tion 5 of . . . Article 2922-l of Vernon’s Revised
    Civil Statutes of Texas, 1925, to provide for com-
    pulsory retirement of members of the Teacher Re-
    tirement System upon reaching a certain age under
    certa~lnconditions; . . .”
    section 35 of Article III of the Constitution of
    Texas requires that the subject of a laglslatlve bill be, ex-
    pressed in ita title. As often stated, the purpose of this
    requirement is to give notice to the members of the Leglsla-
    ture and the people of the scope of the subject matter of the
    proposed law. “The title must be such as to reasonably apprise
    the public of the interests that are or may be affected by the
    statute .n  Gulf Ins. Co. v. James, 
    143 Tex. 424
    , 185 S.Y.2d
    966   (1945).
    The general rules for determining the sufficiency of
    the title of an amendatory act are summarieed in the following
    quotation from 39 Texas Jurisprudence, Statutes, 8 48:
    “In addition to the statement of a purpose to
    amend a given law or provision, a title may specify
    the nature of the amendment, and when it does so
    the body of the act must, conform. A title that
    speclfles the part lcular field an amendment 1s to
    cover or states 8 purpose to make a certain change
    in the prior law, and that 1s not merely descrlp-
    tlvo of the matters to which the lav relates,
    llmlts the amendatory act to the making of the
    change designated and precludes any additlonal,
    contrary or different madmeat.     Thus a title
    that expresses a purpose to change a prior law by
    aadlng or extending a provision or conferring a
    right does,not warrant -an amendment that omits or
    restricts a provision,of the original act or de-
    stroys ~a previously existing right. . . .
    “A title expressing a purpose to amend a stat-
    ute in a certain particular is deceptive and mls-
    leading in so far as the body~of the act purports
    to amend the prior law in other particulars. The
    amendatory act is void to the extent that its pro-
    visions go beload express limitations or the scope
    of the title.
    .*, .
    i
    Mrs. B. B. Sagp, page 3 (S-119)
    The title of an amendatory act which undertakes to
    specify the particular field of amendment must give notice of
    changes resulting from omissions and deletions in the statute
    _-
    being amended. Hard Cattle & Pasture Co. v. Carpenter, 
    109 Tex. 103
    , 200 3.m      (1918); Lone Star Gas Co. v. Birdwell,
    
    74 S.W.2d 294
    (Tax. Civ. App. 1934).
    Subsection 1 of Section 5 of Article 2922-1, as it
    existed prior to the enactment of Chapter 423, dealt not only
    with compulsory retirement after a member reached 70 years of
    age, but also with voluntary retirement prior to that age and
    with re-entry into active service after a member had accepted
    retirement benefits. This subsection as emended in tiapter
    423 reads exactly as the prior law, except that the provisions
    relating to re-employment after retirement are omitted. It
    is seen that the caption of Chapter 423 is not merely descrlp-
    tive of the matters to which the law relates, as even in its
    amended form Subsection 1 relates to a broader field than
    compulsory retirement. It states a purpose to make certain
    changes in the prior statute. The caption of the bill lndl-
    cated that ths change in Subsection 1 dealt only with com-
    pulsory retirement. It failed to give notice that the amend-
    ment changed the existing law affecting the re-employment of
    members who had accepted retirement benefits. Accordingly,
    the attempted deletion of this portion of Subsection 1 was
    void, and it continues in force as it existed prior to the
    enactment of Chapter 423.
    SUMMARY
    The attempted deletion of the portion of Sub-
    section 1 of Section 5, Article 2922-1, V.C.S.
    (Teacher Retirement Act) regulating employment of
    members of the Teacher Retirement System after re-
    tirement is not expressed in the title of the
    smendatory act (Chapter 423, Acts 53rd Leg., 1953)
    -0..
    Mrs. B. B. Sapp, page 4 (S-119)
    and ie void. Tax. Coast. Art. III, Sec. 35.   Con-
    sequently, these provisions as enacted in 1951 are
    still in effect.
    APPROVED:                         Yours   very   truly,
    JORN BEN SREPPERD
    John Atchison                     Attorney General
    Revlewr
    Eugene Brady
    Reviewer                          By-r-
    Mary K. Wall
    Robert 3. Trottl                       Assistant
    First Assistant
    John Ben Shepperd
    Attorney General
    

Document Info

Docket Number: S-119

Judges: John Ben Shepperd

Filed Date: 7/2/1953

Precedential Status: Precedential

Modified Date: 2/18/2017