November 24, 2014 5:12 PM

Exclusive: Straus says House will not vote to bust spending limit

Despite some chatter to the contrary, Straus says it ain’t happening: “We see no reason to do so”

Texas House Speaker Joe Straus told Quorum Report on Monday there is no way the House will vote to break the state's constitutional spending limit in the 2015 session of The Legislature. "The House is not going to break the spending limit," Straus said flatly during an interview with QR in the Speaker’s Office. “We see no reason to do so."

"We've consistently chosen the lowest estimate of economic growth and we should do the same next week," Straus said of the Dec 1 meeting of the Legislative Budget Board, which of course he co-chairs with Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst.

Straus said the ability of lawmakers to stay well below the spending cap "shows the House's budget discipline. We've stayed under the limit and we've still been able to address priorities in significant ways."

There has been some chatter about this among some of the Republicans members who have been getting calls from constituents. There have been some reported mail pieces in certain districts about it and certain self-proclaimed conservative groups are claiming the House is poised to bust the spending cap.

By Scott Braddock