Texas Attorney General Opinion: MS-6 Page: 4 of 18
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C-,
Hon. Max C. Smith, page 4 (MS-06)
and ending August 31, 1955; authorizing and
prescribing conditions, limitations, rules,
and procedures, for allocating and expending
the appropriated funds; and declaring an emer-
gency.
Turning from the caption to the body of the Act, on page 7,
Section 4, appears a definition of the term "Other Operating Expense "
as used in Article I. The section provides that "Other Operating Ex-
pense" "means' items of expense "included' in three named headings
in the State Comptroller's Classification of Accounts as revised to
August 31, 1952. Our first question arises over the fact that the quoted
headings other than "Repairs" do not appear in the said classification
manual. Our second question concerns the meaning intended by the verb
"means ". We recently discussed a similar definition in Attorney Gen-
eral's Opinion V-141Q (1952) and held that the verb "includes" is non-
restrictive, that is, that the defined term included all the items named
or referred to but was not limited in meaning to what was named or
referred to. In that opinion we distinguished verbs such as "means "
which ordinarily do limit the meaning of the term defined to what is
named or referred to. Such phrasing as "shall include only" which is
used on page 163, Section 27, always clearly limits the meaning of the
term defined to what is named or referred to. On- page 8, Section 5, we
notice that monies appropriated for "Other Operating Expense" in Ar-
ticle I may be spent for other named purposes. In view of Section 5,
we think it is notentirely clear in Section 4 whether the definition is
non-restrictive or-restrictive. If a non-restrictive sense is intended,
we suggest substitution of the words "may include", If a restrictive
sense is intended, we suggest the words "shall include only."
On page 9, Section 2 defines certain terms as used in Article
II. It appears to us that one or more words have been erroneously de-
leted from the first sentence with the result that the sentence is ren-
dered ambiguous. Secondly, the Comptroller' Classifications of Ac-
counts referred to, though apparently the same manual referred to in
Article I, Section 2, is not described in the same way. Thirdly, we sug-
gest that the non-restrictive or restrictive nature of the verb "shall in-
clude" be definitely clr ifi~ tytsi -sub stitutimoftthe words "may in-
clude" or "shall include only', whichever is the legislative intent. Lastly,
we suggest, purely as a matter of form, that Section 2 be shifted back
into the "Special Provisions ' portiori of Article II.
On page 20, Section 6, subsection b provides that collection for
certain services and employee benefits shall be made by a deduction
from the recipient's salary and subsection e requires that the State be
reimbursed for materials and supplies used by barbers and cosmetolo-
gists who charge State employees for them. The amounts deducted and
the charges for reimbursement must be placed in some fund in the State
Treasury but we find no indication of whether such amounts and charges
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Texas. Attorney-General's Office. Texas Attorney General Opinion: MS-6, text, March 5, 1953; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth275873/m1/4/?q=Lamar+University: accessed June 7, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.