Attorney General Opinion WW-0116

_ . . Honorable John Ii. Wfnters Executive Dfrector State Department of Publfc Welfare Austin 14, Texas, Dear Mr. Winters: Opfnfon No. WW-116 Re: Whether the Department of Publfc Welfare may 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 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, "It is further provided be assessed shall be pafd to provfdes in part: that the money 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%,ved by 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,zn from the Treasury but %n pursuance of' 3pecMi.c appropriations made by Par<; nor shall, a-ng apprnprlatfon 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 ,virtue of the prov%s%o~s of Sectfon 6 of Article VIII of the Const%tut%o,c of Texas, a'bove quoted, 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 (1886); :, Tex. 687, 19 S.W. 106 Attc;rneg Ger;eraits Op%,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,rawn t"rom t:h.e tr,easupJ but Pn pursu- ance of cpecY%,c approp?l,wt%,on made by law' . As was sa%d i.n T?easurr:.r v. Wygall, 46 Tex. 465: 'The key that unlocks the state ,treasurg is an act of the leg~%,slatzrre, d%rect%,ng the thfng to b$ ,"o~~,~~c~o~*d~~~,'d~~; and not the judgment .Lt,able consideration, reachfng beycnd and charging the terms of the law fn the dispo9iti~on of 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.%on for the payment of refunds, you are adv%wed that the Department of Publfc Wel- fare fs not a,uthor%zed to 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