Programs for 1963

THE CONGRESS

For the departments and agencies of the U.S. Government, spring comes in the fall. Late each September, bureaucratic thoughts lightly turn to next year's legislation, programs blossom, and hope springs eternal. Throughout October and well into November, the departments nurture their plans in hothouses. Then comes time for approval by the Budget Bureau and the White House--and the petals begin to fall. The final pruning, or fatal plucking, is up to Congress.

This week departmental hands were trekking to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to go over their programs with presidential aides. Not all the proposals were--as they say--finalized. All were subject to drastic revisions, and some would undoubtedly die without even reaching Capitol Hill.

But these, in addition to tax matters, were the major ideas up for consideration:

MEDICARE will be pushed again with "no radical alteration." The Administration bill may include a provision from the Javits-Anderson amendment for coverage of uninsured old people from general revenue, but otherwise the program would be financed by the social security system.

AID TO EDUCATION will be dusted off and given another try. It will probably include federal help for elementary and secondary schools, aid to higher education, and a vocational aid program. The Administration apparently intends to tackle again the ticklish matter of public v. parochial school aid.

THE FARM PROGRAM will feature some sort of voluntary system aimed at reducing milk production (which is far outrunning demand), plus new cotton legislation aimed at making U.S. cotton, which is in huge surplus, competitive in both foreign and domestic markets. The present voluntary program for feed grains will probably be continued.

LABOR LEGISLATION will be highlighted by a major push for a Youth Employment Opportunities Act that would provide funds for a Youth Conservation Corps and for matching grants to foster the employment of out-of-school teenagers. There is a good chance that this bill will become part of a general proposal for the creation of a domestic Peace Corps to aid in slums, mental hospitals, on Indian reservations and among migratory workers.

CONSERVATION, the Interior Department's pet province, will be pushed in a bill to finance new public parks and recreation areas, lost in the shuffle last year. The program would pay for itself through taxes and charges on users of outdoor recreation facilities--admission charges to national parks, a special tax on gasoline for outboard motors, etc.

SPACE will demand a bigger part of the budget than ever. Present plans call for a vast increase in space-agency funds over fiscal 1963's $3.7 billion, probably to at least $5.5 billion. The biggest amount will go for the U.S. program to reach the moon by 1970.

DEFENSE requests will include a plan for a major overhaul of the armed forces' pay structure, including increases in pay for both officers and enlisted men in all services, with emphasis on incentive pay for career personnel. The Pentagon also plans to try to extend special benefits to survivors of U.S. military personnel missing on cold war missions abroad.

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