Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1957 )

_ ..
Honorable John Ii.Wfnters Opfnfon No. WW-116
Executive Dfrector
State Department of Re: Whether the Department
Publfc Welfare of Publfc Welfare may
Austin 14, Texas, legally refund to the
Internatfonal Church of
The Four-Square Gospel
the sum of $45.00,
which represents an
assessment whfch was
collected and deposfted
in the Commodity Dfs-
trfbutfon Fund in the
State Treasury through
Dear Mr. Winters: erlaor
D
You have requested our opinfon concernfng whether
the Department of Publfc Welfare may legally refund assess-
ments erroneously collected and deposfted fn the State
Treasury under the facts wubmftted, You state in your re-
quest that, pursuant to the provfsfons of House Bill 441,
Acts of the 53rd Legfslature, Regular Sessfon, 1953,
Chapter 305, page 757, codf,f%ed%n Vernon's as Artfcle
695c, Sectfon 7-A, Vernon's Civil Statutes, the sum of Forty-
five ($45.00) Dollars ‘was collected frnm the Internatfonal
Church of the Faur-Square Gospel fn Dwllas, Texas. It sub-
sequently developed that the Church was 'nelfgfble for
commoditfes and, therefore, the money collected and deposited
in the State Treasury had not been due to the Department of
Publfc Welfare. The Department of Public Welfare approved
a purchase voucher authorizing payment of a refund of the
Fortv-ffve ($45.00) Dollars. whfch refund was rejected by the
Comptroller‘of-Pubifc Accounts.
Sectfon 7-A of Article 695c, provfdes in part:
"It is further provided that the money to
be assessed shall be pafd to the State Depart-
ment of Publfc Welfare and shall be used for no
other purposes except fop the necessary economic
operatfon of the Program subject to rules and
regulations which may be established by the State
Department of Public Welfare, by the provisions
Honorable John H. Wfnters, page 2 ww-116
of thfw Act, and by the p~ov%w%on3 of the
general appropr%at%on Acts of the Legfsla-
ture. The funds rece%,vedby the State
Department of Publfc Welfare shall be
deposited in a weparate account in the State
Treasury, and shall be subject to w%thdrawals
upon authorfzation by the Executive Dfrector
of safd Department . o . ."(Emphas%s ours)
Sectfon 6 of Artfcle VIII of the Constftution of
Texas provfdew:
"No money shall be dra,znfrom the Treasury
but %n pursuance of'3pecMi.c appropriations
made by Par<; nor shall,a-ngapprnprlatfon of
money be made for a longer term than two years,
except by the Plrst Leg%3lature to assemble under
this Conwtftut%on, wh%ch may make the necessary
appropr%at%cns to carry an the government until
the assemblage of the s%xteenth LegLslature."
By ,virtueof the prov%s%o~s of Sectfon 6 of Article
VIII of the Const%tut%o,cof Texas, a'bovequoted, money not
spec%f%cally approprfated by the Legfslature cannot be with-
drawn from the T:reasury. Pickie v. Ffnley 91 Tex, 484,
44 S.W. 480 (1898); Lightfoot v, Lane, 104'Tex. 447, 140
S.W. 89 (1911); State v. Snyder9 rjt
:,Tex. 687, 19 S.W. 106
(1886); Attc;rnegGer;eraitsOp%,il:on
WW-102 ~
In State v. SnydsF, aupri.,the court stated:
"Tke co``:iti.t,nti,on
prcvli.de-c
that 'na money
shall be d,rawnt"romt:h.e
tr,easupJbut Pn pursu-
ance of cpecY%,c approp?l,wt%,onmade by law' .
v. Wygall, 46 Tex. 465:
As was sa%d i.nT?easurr:.r
'The key that unlocks the state ,treasurgis an
act of the leg~%,slatzrre,
d%rect%,ngthe thfng to
b$ ,"o``,``c~o~*d``~,'d``; and not the judgment
.Lt,ableconsideration,
reachfng beycnd and charging the terms of the
law fn the dispo9iti~onof property.'"
Since SectEon 7-A of Article 695c requfred the
assessments collected to be depowfted fn the State Treasury
and does not prov%de for a refund of such assessments and
wfnce there fs no available appropr%at.%onfor the payment of
refunds, you are adv%wed that the Department of Publfc Wel-
fare fs not a,uthor%zedto refund the money collected and
deposfted in the State Treasury as outlined fn your request.
Honorable John H. Winter, page 3 w-w-116
SUMMARY
The Department of Public Welfare
cannot legally refund an assessment which
was collected and deposited in the State
Treasury-pursuant to the provisions of
Section 7-A of Article 695c of Vernon's
Civil Statutes since Article 695~ does not
authorize the refund of such assessments
and there is no available approprfatfon
for the payment of such refund, even though
the assessment was collected through error.
Section 6, Article VIII of the Constftution
ot v. Lane, 104
Yours very truly,
WILL WIISON
Attorney General of Texas
JR:zt:rh
APPROVED:
OPINION COMMITTEE
H. Grady Chandler, Chafrman
Elbert M. Morrow
Mrs. Marietta Payne
Riley Eugene Fletcher
REVIEWED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
BY:
Geo. P. Blackburn