Reagan Seeks Action on Tax Bill by Oct. 15

The Reagan Administration will push to get its tax reform bill through the Democratic-controlled House as early as Oct. 15, White House spokesman Larry Speakes said Tuesday.

“We hope to have House action (by then), with the Senate following,” Speakes said. “There’s going to be, certainly, a reluctance on the part of some congressmen, some special interest groups, to try to influence the tax bill and hold it up. But we think it’s possible, and we’re going to push to see this is done.”

The announcement was made after members of the White House staff on opposite sides of the country conferred for an hour and a half via a telephone hookup on the Administration’s priorities for the rest of the year. Chief of Staff Donald T. Regan and White House national security adviser Robert C. McFarlane headed the staff members here taking part in the session.

Speakes said controlling federal spending remains the Administration’s top priority, shared by passage of the tax reform package.

Warning on Overruns

In a new warning to Congress on President Reagan’s plans to seek additional cuts in spending, Speakes said: “We will be taking a close look at all appropriations bills that come through. We will be watching them with an eye toward overruns on spending. The President will be prepared to veto, and I would expect, unless Congress toes the line on spending, that you will see a number of vetoes this fall.”

Speakes told reporters after the staff session that the Administration still has a substantial “window of opportunity” to press its programs through before the 1986 election campaigns start becoming a factor.

Moreover, Speakes asserted that the elections may even have a positive effect on Reagan’s programs--an oblique reference to Reagan’s continued strong standing in national polls on his performance.

Have to Face Public

“The entire House of Representatives and a third of the Senate will be up for election, and I think when they have to face the American public, they will understand what they have to do,” he said.

Reagan, vacationing at his ranch near here, divided his day Tuesday between paper work sent to him by his staff and walking his ranch property.

The White House announced that Vice President and Mrs. George Bush will visit with the Reagans today. Bush is in California to attend ceremonies commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Japanese surrender in World War II. The ceremonies will be aboard the aircraft carrier Enterprise in San Francisco Bay today.