Opinion letter to Mr. Harvey D. Shell, P.E.

May 12, 1971 Answered by Letter - Nowotny OPINION LETTER NO . 34 1-tr. Harvey D. Shell, P.E. Acting Executive Secretar y Air Conservation Commission State of Missouri P. 0. Box 1062 Jefferson City , Missouri 65101 Dear Mr. Shell: FILE 0 3f- This is in reply to your request for an official opinion of this office , which request reads as follows: "On Augus t 14-16, 1970, the 1970 Governor ' s Youth Conference on Environmental Quality was held at the Univer sity of Missouri in Columbia. There were 270 delegates from 13 youth organizations, reprosenting some 600 , 000 young Missouri citizens . "The program was prima r ily educational in nature , and both Mr. Walter No\'rotny , of your office , and myself participated. The del- egates were enthusiastic , and the conference was a complete success. "One of t he conference recommendations was that it be an annual affair , and t hat the State of Missouri provide financial help. This, of course, would require an appro- priation from the Legislature, and a con- stitutional question would probab l y be raised. Mr. Harvey D. Shell "Could a direct appropriation by the Legis- lature be legally made to the group? If such cannot, could the Missouri Air Con- servation Commission contract such a con- ference through the contractural services portion of its operations budget?" The first question is whether the legislature could appropriate money directly to the conference. First, we note that there are no statutes specifically authorizing or providing for this conference. Nor does the conference have the status of a state agency or po- litical subdivision. Such a conference is not public but is private in the sense that it is promoted and handled by private persons or organizations. It is a governor's conference only to the extent that the governor is lending the title of t he office to the conference. Therefore, it is our opinion t hat Section 38(a), Article III, Constitution of ~tlssouri, prohibits the legislature from appropriating state funds to the conference. This provision reads as follows: "The general assembly shall have no power to grant public money or property, or lend or authorize the lending of public credit, to any private person, association or corporation, excepting aid in public calamity, and general laws providing for pensions for the blind, for old age assist- ance, for aid to dependent or crippled children or the blind, for direct r elief, for adjusted compensation, bonus or reha- bilitation for discharged members of the armed services of the United States who were bona fide residents of this state during this service, and for the rehabil- itation of other persons. Money or pro- perty may also be received from the United States and be redistributed together with public money of this state for any public purpose designated by the United States." We also direct your attention to State ex rel. Garth et al. v. Switzler, 143 Mo. 287, where it was held that a tax which was to provide for the endowment of free scholarships to the state univer- sity was a purely private and not a public purpose and thus in con- travention of the constitution. Furthermore, assuming that such a purpose was public and not private, there is , as noted above , no legislation providing for -2- Mr. Harvey D. Shell such a conference. Therefore, the mere appropriation of money would not be sufficient, since legislation of a general character cannot be included in an appropriation bill. State ex rel. Gaines v. Canada, 342 Mo. 121; and State ex rel Davis v. Smith, 335 Mo. 1069. Your second question is whether the Missouri Air Conservation Commission could contract for such a conference. In this regard, there is legislation of a public nature by which contracts for services may be made. The Commission has, among others, the following powers to implement the "Missouri Air Conser- vation Law", Chapter 203, R.Sf-1o (Section 203.050 , RSMo 1969): "1. In addition to any other powers vested in it by law the commission shall have the following powers: • • • "(9) Retain, employ, provide for, and com- pensate, within appropriations available therefor, such consultants , assistants, deputies, clerks, and other employees on a full or part-time basis as may be neces- sary to carry out the provisions of this chapter and prescribe the times at which they shall be appointed and their pO\'Iers and duties, and 11 (10) Secure necessary scientific, tech- nical, administrative and operational services , including laboratory facilities, by contract or otherwise with any educa- tional institution, experiment station , or any board, department, or other agency of any political subdivision or state or the federal government." Thus, to implement and carry out the duties i mposed by Chapter 203, the Commission has the power to retain or employ such personnel or contract for such services as necessary. Since the conference is not an "educational institution, ex- periment station, or any board, department, or other agency of any political subdivision or state o~ the federal government", it is our opinion that the Commission could not contract with the confer- ence for any purpose pursuant to Section 203.050.1(10). However, it is our opinion that under Section 203.050.1(9) the Commission could retain the conference and participants of the -3- Mr. Harvey D. Shell conference as consultants, if the conference is undertaking pro- grams or activities which conform to the purposes of Chapter 203. A consultant is defined as: "1: One who consults another 2 : one who gives professional advice or services re- garding matters in the field of his special knowledge or training , as a consul ting phy- sician or engineer, or, sometimes, a de- tective. 11 Webster's New International Dictionary, Second Edition . It is necessary to add that such consultants are not employees in the same sense as the regular members of your staff, and, for example, would not come under the merit system law. -4- Very truly yours, JOHN C. DANFORTH Attorney General