Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1942 )

Honorable Homer P. Ralney, President University of Texas Austin, Texas Dear Sir: Opinion No. O-4577 Re: Deficiency allowance by Governor to University of Texas. From your letter of May 1st and documents accompany- In lt, it appears that on your sworn application of April 8, 19&2, the Governoron April 14, 1942, under the authority of R. C. S. Article 4351, approved the making of deficiency ex- penditures in the following amounts, supplementing the items, of appropriation listed below, for the remaining portion of the fiscal year ending August 31, 1942: _. Aavronrlatlon Deflclency Allowance Item 43 (Comptroller's No. C-1167) $5,000.00 Research Fellows. . .$12,000.00 Item 44.(Comptroller8a'Ro. C-1176) Equipment, Maintenance, Printing & Traveling. . . . . $14,200.00 $15,000.00 You ask the opinion of thisDepartment as to the legal- ity of the Governor's approval of such request for deficiency allowance. Items 43 and 44 appear in the educatFona1 Institutions appropriation bill (H. B. 272, Acts 47th Leg., Reg. Seas.) under "The UnFversltg of Texaa, Extramural Divisions" and the subheading "Bureau of Industrial Chemistry." Article 4351, Revised Civil Statutes, provides: "All heads of departments, managers of State institutions or other persons intrusted with the power or duty of contracting for supplies, or in any manner pledging the credit of the State for any deficiency that may arise under their manage- ment or control, shall, at least-thirty days be- fore.such deflclency shall occur, make out a sworn estimate of the amount necessary to cover such de- Honorable Homer P. Ralney,~page 2 o-4577 flclency until the meeting of'the next Legislature. Such estimate shall be lmmediatelg'filed with the Governor/who shall thereupon carefuIly examine the same'and approve'or disapprove the same in whole or In part; When such deficiency claim, or any part thereof, has been so approved by the Governor he shall ihdorse his approval thereon, designating the amount and item8 thereof"approvad and the items dls- approved, and file same with the Comptroller; and"the same ahall"'beauthority for the Comptroller to draw his deficiency warrantfor ao much thereof as may be approved; but no claim, or any part thereof, shall be allowed or warrants drawn therefor by the Comp- troller, or paid by the Tr'easurer,unless such esti- mate has been so approved and filed. If there Is a deficiency appropriation suff'iclentto meet such claims, then a warrant.shal,lbe drawn therefor and the same shall be paid;.but, if there is no such appropriation, or If,such appropriation be so ex- hausted that.lt is not sufficient tompay such aefi- clency claim, then a aeflciency warrant shall issue therefor; and such claim shall remain unpaid until provision be made therefor at some session of 'the 'Legislaturethereafter.~ The provisions of this art1cI.eshall not apply tomfees and dues for which the State may be liable under the general.laws. when any Injury or damage shall occur to any public. property from flood, storm or any unavoidable cause, the estimate may be filed at once but must be ap- proved by the Governor as provided in this article." Your application reads as follows: "BEFICIEWCYFORTFIEBUREAUOF INDUSTRIAL CHEMISTRYTREUIUXERSITYOF TEXAS AUSTIN, TEXAS "TO THE HONORABLE COKE R. STEVENSON, GOVERNOR OF TEXAS: "COMES NOW Homer P. Rainey, President of The University of Texas, Austin, Texas, and in com- pliance with the provisionsof Article 4351, Re- vised Civil Statutes'of Texas, 1925, submits this his sworn estimate of the amount of deflclency.ap- propriatlon necessary for supplementingfunds avail- able to The University of Texas,-Austin, Texas, for the fiscal year ending August 31,.'1942. For the purpose of supplementing the Bureau of Industrial Chemistry ~fund, to pay for extra help and mlscel- laneous expenses. . - Honorable Homers P. Ralneg, page 3 o-4577 "The total amount requested IS $20,000 ana Is to.supplement-appropriations~made to The Uni- versity of Texas, Extramural Divisions; Bureau of-Industrial Chemistry: 'broken aownas ~followa: $5;000.00 to su plemenf,'approprlationnumber C- 1167 - 43; ana $``,OOO.OO to supplement appro- priation number.c-1176. Both of these appropr‘l- atlons are now practically exhausted. "That the fOregOiIIg amount is reasonable and- necessary to continue work on an'expanded program of converting natural gas Into acetylene and re- lated activities. "WHRRRpORE, Homer P. Rainey,;.Presldentof The University of Texas, Austin, Texas, respectfully petitions your Excellency to grant a deficiency appropriation in the amount above specified. ' s/ Homer P. Ralner (maa) President, The University of Texas (Department) "STATE OF TEXAS COUJVTYOF TRAVIS . "Sworn and subscribed to before me, this the 8th day of Anrll , A. D., 1942, by BomerH``aRalney, Presldent, The University of Texas. 1 (Department) R/s/ Thelma Lockwood Notary Public, Travis County, Texas." The appilcation,ls in proper form and presented a re- quest which the Governor, In his discretion, might allow or tiefuse,under Article 4351. In our opinion~Ro. C-2118, copy of.whlch Is enclosed, we held that Article 4351 allows the Governor to supelement existing approprititionsfor currGnt operating expenaes; but does noteauthorize him to--8tipplement kPpropriatlons made for the construction or purchatieof pee- manent Improvements or betterments; The items of appropria-. tion supplemented In the instant case,are of the first class, to-wit, appropriations for current operating 'expenses. The deficiency allowances are available for expenditure fbrthe same ptiposes as those for which the appropriation items they supplement might be expended. Honorable Homef P. Rainey, page '4 The agplicatloripresenting a case within $lie juris- dlctloiiconferred upon the Governor by.Article``43~1,:hisBe- termination that there existed a necesslt~.for.all~wing~auch deficiency ekpelialtures$nd the amount therebf 1,s,n+ ~sub- ject to review by this _. Department. . ~Yoienclo&e a cirtificate~'from~td6``~Comptroli``aated- May lat, 1942,/certif&g that the'grid ma& to'.$our'.lnatl- - tut16n unaer'-dateof April 14, 1942, added to the other aefl- cienCy allowances'approved,by the Governor theretofore, does not maliethe ceflM.en&y-aflowance..appr+re$'by:theGdti@lioii aggregate more than $200,000.00. It the??efor&app@Ps that. the grant to,your institution iS not lnvalid'b$ force of the provisions of Article 4351a, Veynon's Revised Civil Statutes. Yours very truly. ATTORNEY'GENERAL OF TEXiS' _. By a/R. W. Fairchild R..W. Falrchtla Assistant Approved Opinion,'Cc$n&t``<,`` : s/&WE Chairman