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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