OFFICIAL OPINION No. 12

OFFICIAL OPINION No. 12 State government-Relationship of offices-Relationship of Commissioner of Professional and Occupational Affairs to the Secretary of the Commonwealth. I. Section 810 of the Administrative Code, 71 P. S. § 279.1 establishes the Commissioner as the chief administrative officer of the professional licensing boards housed in the Department of State. 2. Such authority is limited by the provisions of Section 503 of the Adminis- trative Code, 71 P. S. § 183, which provides that commissions are responsible to the departments with which they are respectively connected in all matters involving the expenditure of money. 3. The Commissioner of Professional and Occupational Affairs is subject to those administrative controls regarding personnel, budgeting and other man- agement and accounting matters as may be duly imposed thereon by the Secretary of the Commonwealth and the Governor's Office. Honorable C. DeLores Tucker Secretary of the Commonwealth Department of State Harrisburg, Pa. Dear Secretary Tucker: Harrisburg, Pa., March 17, 1971 You have requested our advice as to the relationship of the Com- missioner of Professional and Occupational Affairs (Commissioner) with that of the Secretary of the Commonwealth. Section 810 of the Administrative Code of April 9, 1929, P. L. 177, as amended, 71 P. S. § 279.1 sets powers and duties of the Commissioner as the chief administrative officer of the professional licensing boards housed in the Department of State. Subsection 8 thereof imposes upon him the responsibility of handling the administrative affairs of each of the professional and occupational examining boards and coordinating their activities. Such authority is limited to compliance with the pro- visions of Section 503 of the Administrative Code, 71 P. S. § 183. That section provides that all departmental administrative bodies, boards, and commissions, within the several administrative departments, 24 OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL including the Commissioner's office, shall exercise the powers and per- form the duties independently of the heads or any other officers of the respective administrative departments with which they are connected, "but, in all matters involving the expenditure of money, all such depart- mental administrative boards and commissions shall be subject and re- sponsible to the departments with which they are respectively connected. Such departments shall, in all cases, have the right to make such exami- nations of the books, records, and accounts of their respective depart- mental administrative boards and commissions, as may be necessary to enable them to pass upon the necessity and propriety of any expendi- ture or proposed expenditure." (Emphasis supplied.) Therefore, in all matters involving the expenditure of money, the Commissioner must comply with Section 503 of the Administrative Code and be responsible to the Department of State. In that regard, his position is no different from that of any other executive officer in State government subject to this statutory provision. In view of the foregoing, it is our opinion, and you are accordingly advised, that the Commissioner of Professional and Occupational Af- fairs is subject to those administrative controls regarding personnel, budgeting and other management and accounting matters as may be duly imposed thereon by the Secretary of the Commonwealth and Gov- ernor's Office. Sincerely yours, J. SHANE CREAMER, Attorney General.