The opinion
.
H
TEXAS
August 25, 1950
Has. Paul Ii. Brown
Fire Insurance Commissioner
Board of Insurance C~sslouers
Austin, Texas
opinion Hoe v-1097.
Re: Availability of Item 32 0f
the Appropriations for the
current biennium to the
Fire Insurance Division,
Board ofInsurauceCo~@s-
sioners, for the purchase
of automobiles; (H.B.322,
Acts 51st Leg., R-S. 1949,
Dear far: oh. 615,'~. 1275.f
request for an oplniou, in part, reads
"The 51stmLegislature made au appro-
priation for the support and n@inteuance
of the Fire Insurance Division of the Board
of Insurance Ccennlsaloners as shown In Chap-
ter 615, Page 1274, Acts of the 51st Legis-
-lature, and included in,that appropriatiou
at page 1275, Item 32, . . . law enforce-
aient . . .I
"We wish to inquire If in your oplulon
tioneg can be used out of this fund for the
%nforoement of the LawI as appropriated to
this Department by the last Legislature for
the purWase of automobiles to be used In
the discharge of dutties imposed upon this
Department by lau.
"For your infomuation xe are enclosiug
letter from the Attorne General88 Depa.t$-
#sent, dated July 6, 1926 giving an affirma-
tive opinion 011this matder.'
Under the subhead %ainteuance and IkLscellane-
otls* of the appropriations made to the Fire Insurauce
Hon. Paul H. Browu, page 2 (V-1097)
Division, Board of Insurance Commlssicuers, for the COW-
rent biennmz appear Items 32 through 36. (LB. 322,
Acts 51st Leg.,~ B.S. 1949, ch.615 ~~1275.) We will con-
sider only the appropriatfons con$ained in Items 32 and
34, for they are the only approprlatious which peptaln
to your question. Item 32 contains au appropriation of
$14 000 for peach year of the bieunium for any one OP all
of Che following purposes:
“Postage snd box reut, telephone,
telegraph, express, stationery and print-
ing equipment, furniture and fixtures,
cod&gent, bond premiums, law enforce-
ment, seasoual help, magazines and pe-
s rlodicals.g
Item 34 contains an appropriation of $20sOO0
for each year of the biennium for “travel expense.
Section 2 of House Bill 322 contains numerous
subsections coutrolllng and restricting the expenditure
of the appropriations ztade to the various departments,
boards, and eolmnissions in Section 1 thereof. Subsec-
tiou:13(b)
..A. thereof, in part, reads as follovs:
“The appropriations herein provided
are to be construed as the maximum sums
to be appropriated to and for the several
purposes named herein, and the amounts
are intended to &over, aud shall cover
the entire cost of the respective items
and the same shall not be supplemented
from any other sauces, + o o and, ex-
cept as otherwise provided, no other ex-
peuditures shall be made, nap shall any
,.other obligations be incurred by any de-
partment of this State, e . 0”
We have been unable to find in House Bfll 322
any specific appropriation to the Fire Insurance Mvi-
sion for the purchase of automobiles.
This office has held that the purchase of an
automobile may be properly regarded as an item of travel
expense, and, in the absence of a speciflo appropriation
to a department or a divislou of a department fop the
purchase of automobiles, the department or a dlvisfon
thereof having an appropriation fop *travel expense” may
make such purchases and charge such apppopziatlou with
Hon. Paul H. Brown, page 3 (v-1097)
the expenditures so incurred. Atty. @en. Qps. O-2669
!;9:~~i~;XZ!5 (1944). We quote from Opinion O-5925
P
"When a State department.purohases an
automobile for the pri.nnwy purpose of af-
fording transportation to Its officials and
employees and when no specific approprla-
tlon is made for this purpose, we feel that
such purchase is chargeable only auainst
the appropriation for travel'inn exuenses.~
The State Ccmptroller of Public Accounts has
consistently followed the above mentioned opinions f'roa
the time they were rendered. The Legislature IS presm-
ed to have been familiar with the holdings In these opla-
ions and to have enacted House Bill 322 in the 11 ht
thereof and with the Intention that the appropria &ions
contained therein should be construed BCCOrdingly, un-
less otherwise specifically provided.
This office has heretofore bad occasion to
consider the provisions of subsection 15(b), supra, as
well as simUar provisions contained in former general
departmental appropriation bills. These opinions pnl-
folly hold that where a sum is provided in an appropri-
ation for a particular item of expense that sum is all
the Legislature intended to be available for that Item
of expense, and it may not be supplemented from any
soume, unless the appropriation bill s eclfioall so
provides. Attg, Gen. Ops. O-1332 (19397; o-5899 fl944);
v-1015 (1950).
Pan have dlrected our attention to a letter
dated July 6, 1928, written by Hon. Branu Fuller, for-
mer Assistant Attorney General, to Hon. T. M. Campbell,
Jr*, Fire Insurance Cozmissioner,in which it is stated
that an a&mobile may be purchased and charged to an
appropriation made to the Fire Insurance Mvision,
Board of Insurance ConmIssioners, for "Contingent Fund
for the enforcement of the law.' We have given due
consideration to this letter and the appropriation bill
(B.B.2. Acts 40th Le 1st C.S. 1927, ch.100, p.263),
in vhich this item o55'&propriation appears,.
House Blll 2 made appropriations to the vari-
ous State departments, boards, and con~Isslons for each
fiscal year of the biennium beginning September l,P927.
.
Hon. Paul H. Brown, page 4 (v-1097)
Under the subhead “General Raintenance”
-. - of the appro-
priatlons to the Pire Insurance Dlvlsion appear several
items 0r appropriations, one of $2,200 for Contingent
Fund for the enforcement of the law ; and another of
$36,000 for “Traveling expenses.’
House Bill 2, like House Bill 322, does not
contain a specific appropriation to the Fire Insurance
Division for the purchase of automobiles. Reither does
it specifically authorize the Fire Insurance Commisslon-
er or the Board of Insurance CozmLssioners to transfer
money appropriated for a particular purpose to another
item of appropriation for another purpose, but a rider
appended thereto positively prohibits such transfers.
In view of the foregoing facts, we think It
Is obvious that this letter opinion to which you refer
has been overruled by the later opinions of this office
cited herein. Therefore, you are respectfully advised
that automobiles may not be purchased and charged to
the appropriations contained in Item 32 of the current
appropriations to the Fire Insurance Division of the
Board of Insurance Commissioners.
Automobiles cannot be purchased and
charged, as an expenditure fop “law en-
forcement’ to the appropriation contained
in Item 32 of the current appropriations 0r
the Fire Insurance Division of the Board
of Insurance Camzf sioners D a3. 322, Acts
R,S. lC+g
if%: z..‘O-1332 fig;,
o-5899 (1944); o-5g25
APPROVED:: Yours very truly,
C. L Richards PRICE DARIRL
Trial & Appellate Attorney General
Division
Everett Hutchinson /34uu&u
Rxecutive Assistant
BY
Charles D. Mathews Bruce W. Rryant
First Assistant Assistant
BWS:vb:mw