Reagan Gives Firm Nod to Tax Measure : Calls Senate Unit’s Version ‘Fine Job,’ Promises to Push It

President Reagan telephoned Sen. Bob Packwood (R-Ore.) today with congratulations and a firm endorsement of the tax reform bill approved by the Senate Finance Committee.

White House spokesman Larry Speakes said Reagan called Packwood in Portland, Ore., to congratulate him for “a fine job” in fashioning a bill that “dramatically simplifies” the tax system and lowers tax rates.

“Despite the doom-sayers who said the Finance Committee wouldn’t produce a bill that was real tax reform, you proved them wrong, and you did it with a unanimous vote,” Reagan said. “Your efforts moved us one giant step further down the road toward meaningful, historic tax reform.”

During the four-minute phone call, Reagan pledged to work closely with Packwood and the GOP leadership to win Senate approval for the proposal and said, “The American people deserve the type of reform that you have put together.”

Seeks ‘Prompt Action’

Speakes said Reagan planned to begin his drive for “prompt action” on the bill with telephone calls this afternoon from the presidential retreat at Camp David, Md. The bill “in general form” meets all the criteria Reagan laid out after House passage of a tax reform bill that deviated sharply from the plan the President outlined last year, Speakes said.

Despite the broad presidential endorsement, Speakes said the Administration will have no comment on specific provisions of the Senate bill, such as a proposed end to tax-deductible contributions to Individual Retirement Accounts, until after the Treasury Department and the Council of Economic Advisers complete comprehensive analyses of the Packwood plan.

In the Senate, meanwhile, initial signs of opposition to the Finance Committee’s tax reform plan surfaced today, although Republican leader Robert Dole said he expected the bill to reach the full Senate early next month and pass basically intact “a couple of weeks” later.

Dole said of the tax bill, “it’s got so much zip right now” he didn’t think many lawmakers would try to stop it.

Cites Bill’s Impact

“I can’t recall a bill ever having that much impact in the time I’ve been here,” Dole added, noting while some problems will have to be addressed on the floor, “I think the basic structure of the bill--the 33% corporate rate, the 15% and 27% rates for individuals--will remain intact.”

Despite the committee’s 20-0 passage of the plan, most lawmakers expect a fierce floor fight with special interests trying to save endangered tax breaks.

But Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.) denounced the measure as unfair and too beneficial to the wealthy.

Details of plan, Page 19.