Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, December 23, 1993                   TAG: 9312230054
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

CLINTON BUDGET WOULD REDUCE DEFICIT TO $190 BILLION

That is a $67 billion slice from the deficit projected for the current fiscal year, which ends next Sept. 30.

In an interview with reporters, Clinton hailed the $190 billion deficit as "quite an important achievement" given the projections when he took office that the 1995 deficit would be more than $300 billion.

He said the deficit reduction was accomplished while the administration still was able to provide "substantial increases in the investments I think are important to our future" in such areas as education, crime fighting, job training, children's health and defense conversion.

White House Budget Director Leon Panetta said the administration had managed to increase spending in the 1995 fiscal year for such things as Head Start, AIDS research and adding 100,000 police officers.

However, to fund increases in Clinton's "investment" categories, spending had to be reduced elsewhere to stay within a $540 billion ceiling on discretionary spending imposed by last year's deficit reduction law.

Of the government's 14 largest agencies, nine will see smaller budgets for the 1995 fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1, than they have now, Panetta said. He said 100,000 federal jobs would be eliminated by the end of 1995.

"We've got a hard freeze imposed across the board," Panetta said. "We are talking about a very tight budget here."

The president's decisions will be sent back to the agencies and the Office of Management and Budget to be compiled into an administration budget to be sent to Congress Feb. 7.

Among the budget details:

Defense: Panetta said that a dispute between OMB and the Pentagon over a $31 billion funding shortfall at the Defense Department has been resolved by an agreement to propose an extra $9 billion to $10 billion in spending for salary increases over this period.

Health: Extra spending for AIDS research and increases for the childhood immunization program and women's health initiatives.

Children: Increased funding for Head Start, the federal infant feeding program, the president's new national service program, the administration's effort to establish national learning standards and federal education programs for poor children.

Jobs: Additional resources for the Job Corps, worker retraining and the Community Development Bank program to provide business loans in distressed areas.

Environment: Panetta indicated the administration would make up for cuts the Environmental Protection Agency suffered last year, particularly in the funding of waste water treatment grants.

Technology: To fund the president's "investment" program, increases will be made in the program to develop the "information highway" project and to boost defense conversion.

Transportation: Full funding of the 1991 law designed to provide $145 billion over seven years for rebuilding and expanding the nation's transportation system.