Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1965 )

. EC Honorable Robert S. Calve& Comptroller of Public Accounts State Capitol Building Austin, Texas Opinion No. C-494 Re: Payment of claim for printing certain forms for the Texas Game and Dear Mr. Calvert: Fish Commission. You have requested our opinion on the legality of a claim of the Moore Business Forms, Inc., for unpaid invoices for printing licenses for the Game and Fish Commission, now Parks and Wildlife Commission. The claim involved in your request was submitted to this office by the Claims and Accounts Committee of the House of Representatives of the 59th Legislature, and, on April 12, 1965, this office approved said claim, stating in a memorandum: "This claim was originally disapproved, however on April 9, 1965, additional lnforma- tion was furnished, and In view of this in- formation, this claim Is now approved. "According to the letter dated February 19, 1965, from J. Weldon Watson, Executive Director, to Honorable Tommy Shannon, Chair- man of the Committee on Claims and Accounts, 'In the year 1962, Moore Business Forms, Inc. was awarded a contract by purchase order through the State Board of Control for the printing of licenses for this department.' Following this purchase order, a reorder of hunting license forms was made. At the time of this reorder, it was the opinion of the Board of Control, the Game and Fish Commls- slon and Moore Business Forms, Inc., that the reorder was covered by the original contract. When invoices were presented for payment, the -2336- Hon. Robert S. Calvert, page 2 (C-494) Board of Control determined that the purchase order did not provide for reorders. In my opinion, this conclusion was based on the fact that the Board of Control considered only the purchase order form, rather than the specifications on which the purchase order was made. The specifications do not contain a limit as to quantity. Only the purchase order, pursuant to the specifica- tions, was limited in quantity. Therefore, unless the specifications contained a pro- vision which limited the number of purchase orders to be made, the contract did not pre- vent additional purchase orders from being made pursuant to the specifications. The original contract having been approved by the Governor, Secretary of State and Comp- troller, In compliance with Section 21 of Article XVI of the Constitution of Texas, it is my opinion that State v. Steck, 236 S;W. 2d 866, does not apply to this claim, since this claim is supported by a valid contract, executed in accordance with the pre-existing law. In other words, in determining whether a claim is supported by pre-existing law, you not only look to the purchase order, pursuant to the specifications, but al,soto the speci- fications themselves. This is especially true in the instant case, since at the time the purchase was made, all parties were in agree- ment that the contract authorized this pur- chase." In view of the foregoing, you are advised that the claim submitted with your request constitutes a legal obligation of the State of Texas and is now payable. SUMMARY The claim of Moore Business Forms, Inc., for printing of licenses for the Game and Fish Commission, now Parks and Wildlife Commission, awarded by the Board of Control, is a valid obligation of the State of Texas, since the -2337- Hon. Robert S. Calvert, Page 3 (C-494) claim is supported by a valid contract exe- cuted in accordance with the pre-existing law. Yours very truly, WAGGONER CARR Attorney General JR:ms APPROVED: OPINION COMMITTEE W. 0. Shultz, Chairman Gordon Houser Roger Tyler Ivan Williams Larry Craddock, Jr. APPROVED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL By: T. B. Wright -2338-