Hit-List Sampler

Like tenacious barnacles, many questionable spending programs weigh down the federal budget. Successive Administrations have tried to zap the most outmoded and ineffective of these programs, only to have Congress restore them to please special-interest groups. But this year, the Office of Management and Budget thinks, the mood in the nation is strong enough to cut or eliminate the least useful of these projects.

The OMB'S hit list appeared in the proposed budget that was sent to Congress last week. A sampler:

Amtrak. Since its beginnings in 1971, the federally supported passenger rail system has been a money loser. Yet people in towns and cities that benefit from the service have made their will felt on Capitol Hill. Government subsidies have steadily swelled, reaching $779 million in the last fiscal year, or about $2 in federal funds for every $1 taken in at Amtrak ticket windows. Insisting that Amtrak will have to improve its management and save money, OMB proposed that the subsidy be cut to $634 million.

Medical School Capitation Grants. These have been made to medical schools on a per capita basis since 1972 so that they could provide financial aid for needy students to meet a nationwide doctor shortage. Now the shortage is past. But Administration efforts to cut funding for the program have been thwarted by Congress, which authorized payments of $144 million in the 1979 budget. For the 1980 budget, OMB proposes that the program be killed.

U.S. Travel Service. Created in 1961, it operates offices at home and abroad and has a mixed record of inducing foreigners to visit the U.S. In the last fiscal year the service spent $ 14.1 million on advertising, travelers' aid and other programs. Contending that it has served its purpose and that U.S. airlines, hotel chains and individual states should carry the load, OMB wants to stop all money. Commerce Secretary Juanita Kreps disagrees, and Hawaii's Senator Daniel Inouye promises a fight to continue the service.

Impact School Aid. It began in 1951 to provide aid for school districts encompassing military bases, which sent servicemen's children to local schools without paying local taxes. The program was expanded over the years so that schools in all but a handful of congressional districts are now eligible for the subsidy; any school district can collect if only a few federal civilian or military workers live there. Last fiscal year the program covered 2.4 million children and cost $799 million. Some of the biggest beneficiaries are among the richest districts in the nation. OMB recommends that funding be reduced to $619.5 million.

Beekeepers Indemnity Program. An example of one of the countless small, special and interminable programs that add up to much spending, this one makes payments to beekeepers who suffer losses because of insecticides approved by the U.S. Government. In recent years farmers have become much more judicious in using poisons, spraying has been reduced, and beekeepers are taking better care of their colonies. OMB argues that there is no longer a need for the $3 million-a-year program.

Law Enforcement Assistance Grants. They began in 1968 primarily to help communities upgrade the caliber and training of police. But many towns and cities spend the money on new hardware, from high-powered radio sets to patrol cars. Outlays last fiscal year reached $724 million. For 1980 OMB proposes a cut to $524.5 million.

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