Republicans Drop Some Budget Cuts

WASHINGTON — Under pressure from congressional Democrats and the Clinton administration, House Republicans agreed Friday to discard some proposed spending cuts that Democrats had protested.

They restored $1.5 billion to help low-income seniors pay their Medicare premiums when the House takes up the landmark balanced-budget legislation next week.

That amount was part of the five-year budget agreement negotiated recently by the White House and congressional leaders. But the House Commerce Committee last week approved only $600 million for that purpose when it passed a spending measure to implement the budget pact.

House Republicans also agreed to ensure the restoration of Supplemental Security Income and Medicaid eligibility for all disabled legal immigrants who are or become disabled so long as they entered the United States before Aug. 23, 1996.

In a Friday “Dear John” letter to House Budget Committee Chairman John R. Kasich (R-Ohio), President Clinton called that provision “essential,” saying that its absence would lead to a veto.

During a rare Friday evening session of his committee, Kasich said such government assistance would be restored when the balanced-budget legislation is finalized later in the year during a House-Senate conference.

Also on Friday, House Republicans agreed that welfare recipients placed in public-sector jobs would be paid the minimum wage. Legislation passed last week by the House Ways and Means Committee would have allowed those workers to be paid less.

Several House Republicans said the concessions were made in hopes of ensuring swift passage of the balanced-budget legislation. “It’s an effort to make this as bipartisan as you can, moving this process along,” said Rep. David L. Hobson (R-Ohio), a member of the House Budget Committee.

The Senate also is scheduled to begin debate on the budget bill on Monday.