Tax Bill 40 Votes Short, O’Neill Says : Tax Overhaul 40 Votes Short, O’Neill Says

House Speaker Thomas P. O’Neill Jr. (D-Mass.) said today that a major tax-overhaul bill is about 40 votes short of passage but supporters predicted that most undecided lawmakers will vote for it when the roll is called Thursday.

“I think we’re going to be fine,” Rep. Barbara B. Kennelly (D-Conn.), one Democratic vote-counter, told reporters as backers of the bill tried to whip up public support for it.

“I’m not worried right now,” she said, quickly noting, however, that “this thing’s been like a roller coaster. . . .”

O’Neill, issuing a strong endorsement of the bill, called it “one of the great landmarks of all time.” He added that “as you analyze this bill, a lot of (members) get hurt at home” because it would produce losers as well as winners.

140 Committed Democrats

He said his counters have found about 140 Democrats committed to the bill and added that about 40 Republicans appear ready to support it. But at another point, he said backers were about 40 votes short of the 217 that would be required if all members vote.

“We’re going to do the work on our side,” he said. “We want the President to do the work” among Republicans.

President Reagan, who had to make a trip to the Capitol to rescue the bill when Republicans rebelled last December, was meeting with business supporters of the measure at the White House this afternoon. He has called the legislation the top domestic initiative of his second term.

A House aide close to the Democratic leadership did not question O’Neill’s vote count but pointed out that the Speaker’s tally included only those members who unequivocally have made up their minds.