Can Texas's Rural Foundation use its money to fund rural programs that aren't health-related?

Plain-English summary

The chairman of the Office of Rural Community Affairs asked whether the Rural Foundation could finance rural programs that are not health programs. The Foundation is a nonprofit corporation the 77th Texas Legislature created in chapter 110 of the Health and Safety Code. Senate Bill 115 added that chapter and directed the agency (then the Center for Rural Health Initiatives, later the Office of Rural Community Affairs) to establish the Foundation to raise money from foundations, governmental entities, and other sources to finance health programs in rural areas. Someone had suggested the Legislature meant the Foundation's reach to extend beyond health programs to other rural programs.

The Attorney General concluded it may not. The opinion rested on the plain language of section 110.002(a), which says the Foundation's purpose is to raise money to finance "health programs." Applying the rule that an unambiguous statute is read by its plain meaning, the opinion treated "health programs" as a specific, limiting term: a program outside that category is not one the Foundation may finance. The opinion noted that even though the statute was clear on its face, the legislative history pointed the same way, with the House committee bill analysis describing the Foundation as a vehicle to bring additional dollars to Texas to support rural health programs in response to a gap in rural health care. The opinion did caution that whether any particular program qualifies as a "health program" is itself a question of fact.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2002. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later Attorney General opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

What the opinion meant for those who asked

The Office of Rural Community Affairs and the Rural Foundation (what the opinion held): The opinion told them the Foundation's funding authority was limited to rural health programs. It could not, on this reading, finance non-health rural programs, whatever the perceived need.

Rural communities and grant seekers (what the opinion held): The opinion treated the Foundation as a source for rural health program funding only. Whether a given proposal counts as a health program was left as a fact question, not resolved in the opinion.

Common questions

Could the Rural Foundation pay for non-health rural projects?
No. The opinion concluded the Foundation's statutory purpose, raising money to finance health programs, does not authorize it to finance programs outside that category.

Where does that limit come from?
From the plain words of section 110.002(a) of the Health and Safety Code, which describe the Foundation's purpose as financing "health programs." The opinion read that unambiguous language as controlling, and found the legislative history consistent.

Who decides whether something is a "health program"?
The opinion said that is a question of fact. It set the legal boundary but did not classify any specific program.

Background and statutory framework

The 77th Legislature enacted House Bill 7, amending chapter 487 of the Government Code to create the Office of Rural Community Affairs as the successor to the Center for Rural Health Initiatives. The same Legislature enacted Senate Bill 115, which added chapter 110 to the Health and Safety Code and required the agency to establish the Rural Foundation as a nonprofit corporation complying with the Texas Non-Profit Corporation Act. Tex. Health & Safety Code Ann. § 110.001(a) (Vernon Supp. 2002). The Foundation is directed to raise money from foundations, governmental entities, and other sources to finance health programs in rural areas of the state, and to keep its responsibilities separate from the agency. Tex. Health & Safety Code Ann. § 110.002(a) (Vernon Supp. 2002); § 110.002(c).

The opinion applied the plain-meaning rule of statutory construction: a court looks first to the plain and common meaning of a statute's words, and if the language is unambiguous, adopts that meaning without resort to extrinsic aids. Fitzgerald v. Advanced Spine Fixation Sys., Inc., 996 S.W.2d 864, 865-66 (Tex. 1999); Tex. Dep't of Transp. v. Garza, 70 S.W.3d 802, 806 (Tex. 2002); In re Am. Homestar of Lancaster, Inc., 50 S.W.3d 480, 486-87 (Tex. 2001); Am. Home Prods. Corp. v. Clark, 38 S.W.3d 92, 95-96 (Tex. 2000). Reading section 110.002(a), the opinion treated "health programs" as a specific term that excludes programs outside that category, and found the House committee bill analysis for Senate Bill 115 confirmed the limit.

Citations

Statutes:

• Tex. Health & Safety Code Ann. § 110.001(a) (Vernon Supp. 2002)
• Tex. Health & Safety Code Ann. § 110.002(a) (Vernon Supp. 2002)
• Tex. Health & Safety Code Ann. § 110.002(c) (Vernon Supp. 2002)

Cases:

• Fitzgerald v. Advanced Spine Fixation Sys., Inc., 996 S.W.2d 864, 865-66 (Tex. 1999)
• Tex. Dep't of Transp. v. Garza, 70 S.W.3d 802, 806 (Tex. 2002)
• In re Am. Homestar of Lancaster, Inc., 50 S.W.3d 480, 486-87 (Tex. 2001)
• Am. Home Prods. Corp. v. Clark, 38 S.W.3d 92, 95-96 (Tex. 2000)

Legislation referenced: House Bill 7 (Act of May 23, 2001, 77th Leg., R.S., ch. 1424); Senate Bill 115 (Act of May 26, 2001, 77th Leg., R.S., ch. 1221).

Source

• Landing page: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/john-cornyn/jc-0570
• Original PDF: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/2002/jc0570.pdf

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from the official PDF. Minor extraction artifacts were corrected; the linked PDF is authoritative.

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL . STATE OF TEXAS
JOHN CORNYN

October 31, 2002

Mr. William M. Jeter III, Chairman Opinion No. JC-0570
Office of Rural Community Affairs
P.O. Box 12877 Re: Whether the Rural Foundation created by the
Austin, Texas 78711-2877 Seventy-seventh Texas Legislature in chapter 110
of the Health and Safety Code may finance rural
programs that are not health programs
(RQ-0552-JC)

Dear Mr. Jeter:

You have requested our opinion as to whether the Rural Foundation may finance programs other than rural health programs. For the reasons set forth below, we conclude that it may not do so.

The Seventy-seventh Texas Legislature enacted House Bill 7, which amended chapter 487 of the Government Code to create the Office of Rural Community Affairs. See Act of May 23, 2001, 77th Leg., R.S., ch. 1424, 2001 Tex. Gen. Laws 5080. House Bill 7 requires "the governor, the lieutenant governor, and the speaker of the house of representatives," not later than November 1, 2001, to "appoint the initial members of the executive committee of the Office of Rural Community Affairs." See id. § 12(a), 2001 Tex. Gen. Laws, at 5096. Section 13 of that bill provided that "[o]n the date by which a majority of the members of the executive committee of the Office of Rural Community Affairs have taken office, the Center for Rural Health Initiatives is abolished and all powers, duties, obligations, rights, contracts, leases, records, property, and unspent and unobligated appropriations and other funds of the Center for Rural Health Initiatives are transferred to the Office of Rural Community Affairs." Id. § 13, 2001 Tex. Gen. Laws, at 5096-97. Thus, the Office of Rural Community Affairs is the successor agency to the Center for Rural Health Initiatives.

The Seventy-seventh Texas Legislature also enacted Senate Bill 115, which added chapter 110 to the Health and Safety Code to require the Center for Rural Health Initiatives, now the Office of Rural Community Affairs, to "establish the Rural Foundation as a nonprofit corporation that complies with the Texas Non-Profit Corporation Act." TEX. HEALTH & SAFETY CODE ANN. § 110.001(a) (Vernon Supp. 2002), added by Act of May 26, 2001, 77th Leg., R.S., ch. 1221, § 1, 2001 Tex. Gen. Laws 2792. The Rural Foundation is directed to "raise money from foundations, governmental entities, and other sources to finance health programs in the rural areas of the state," and is granted the "powers that are necessary and convenient to carry out its duties."[1] TEX. HEALTH & SAFETY CODE ANN. § 110.002(a) (Vernon Supp. 2002). These are the sole statutorily-mandated duties of the Rural Foundation. It has been suggested "the Legislature intended that the Rural Foundation's duties not be limited to only financing health programs, but to finance other programs in rural areas of Texas as well."[2]

As the Texas Supreme Court said in Fitzgerald v. Advanced Spine Fixation Systems, Inc.:

[I]t is cardinal law in Texas that a court construes a statute, "first, by looking to the plain and common meaning of the statute's words." If the meaning of the statutory language is unambiguous, we adopt, with few exceptions, the interpretation supported by the plain meaning of the provision's words and terms. Further, if a statute is unambiguous, rules of construction or other extrinsic aids cannot be used to create ambiguity.

Fitzgerald v. Advanced Spine Fixation Sys., Inc., 996 S.W.2d 864, 865-66 (Tex. 1999) (citation omitted). See also Tex. Dep't of Transp. v. Garza, 70 S.W.3d 802, 806 (Tex. 2002); In re Am. Homestar of Lancaster, Inc., 50 S.W.3d 480, 486-87 (Tex. 2001); Am. Home Prods. Corp. v. Clark, 38 S.W.3d 92, 95-96 (Tex. 2000).

In our opinion, there can be no doubt about the legislative intent regarding the duties of the Rural Foundation. The purpose of the Rural Foundation is to raise money "to finance health programs." TEX. HEALTH & SAFETY CODE ANN. § 110.002(a) (Vernon Supp. 2002) (emphasis added). "Health programs" is a specific term. If a "program" is outside the province of "health programs," it is not the kind of program that the Rural Foundation may finance. Of course, it is a question of fact as to whether any particular program is a "health program."

Even though the statute is clear on its face, we note that our conclusion is also supported by legislative history. The bill analysis for the House committee report on Senate Bill 115 states:

In its Interim Report to the 77th Legislature, the House Select Committee on Rural Development found a substantial gap between urban and rural health care, with rural areas having fewer professional health care providers and hospitals. According to the Center for Rural Health Initiatives (center), more than half of Texas' rural counties (101 out of 196) are considered health professional shortage areas. The center is the primary state resource in planning, coordinating, and advocating statewide efforts to ensure continued access to rural health care services. There are many national, regional, and in-state foundations that award grants to nonprofit organizations for a variety of programs, but do not award grants to governmental entities. A nonprofit foundation established under the umbrella of the center could help bring additional dollars to Texas to support rural health programs. Senate Bill 115 requires the center to establish the Rural Health Foundation[3] as a nonprofit organization to raise money to finance health programs in rural areas.

HOUSE COMM. ON PUBLIC HEALTH, BILL ANALYSIS, Tex. S.B. 115, 77th Leg., R.S. (2001) (emphasis added). We conclude therefore that the Rural Foundation is not authorized to finance programs other than rural health programs.

SUMMARY

The Rural Foundation, a nonprofit corporation created by the Seventy-seventh Texas Legislature, is not authorized to finance programs other than rural health programs.

JOHN CORNYN
Attorney General of Texas

HOWARD G. BALDWIN, JR.
First Assistant Attorney General

NANCY FULLER
Deputy Attorney General - General Counsel

SUSAN DENMON GUSKY
Chair, Opinion Committee

Rick Gilpin
Assistant Attorney General, Opinion Committee

[1] The Rural Foundation is also instructed to "develop and implement policies and procedures that clearly separate the responsibilities and activities of the foundation from the Center for Rural Health Initiatives," now the Office of Rural Community Affairs. TEX. HEALTH & SAFETY CODE ANN. § 110.002(c) (Vernon Supp. 2002).

[2] Letter from J. Randel (Jerry) Hill, General Counsel, Office of Rural Community Affairs, to Honorable John Cornyn, Texas Attorney General, at 1 (May 15, 2002) (on file with Opinion Committee).

[3] "Rural Health Foundation" was changed to "Rural Foundation" by subsequent amendment.