Reagan Signs Bill Giving $50 Million to Homeless

President Reagan on Thursday signed emergency legislation furnishing $50 million to help the homeless.

In a statement, Reagan noted that the measure included a provision disapproving pay raises he had recommended for members of Congress, Cabinet officers, federal judges and some 3,000 other top-ranking federal officials.

But the President said he had been advised by Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III that the disapproval provision “was without any legal force” because the House did not adopt it until after the passage of a Feb. 3 deadline for nullifying the pay raises.

Money to Be Transferred

The money for the homeless will be transferred from the disaster relief program run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to an emergency food and shelter program that already has been given $70 million this year.

The money will be distributed by a national board, with members from several charitable and religious organizations.

The Administration had said earlier that it opposed the legislation because it would deplete a relief fund normally distributed to victims of earthquakes, tornadoes and other disasters.

White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said a week ago that the Administration had “registered concern about the funding mechanism of transferring money from one account to another, but not the overall funding level” for the homeless.

Members of Congress assured themselves a pay raise of $12,100 earlier this month when the House adjourned on Feb. 3, letting pass a midnight deadline for rejecting the salary increases.

The next day, after the deadline for stopping the automatic pay raises, the House disapproved the pay hikes and attached that disapproval resolution to the legislation to help the homeless.

Vote Called Meaningless

Opponents and supporters agreed that the vote was meaningless, since the deadline for rejecting the increase had passed.

Reagan, who recommended the pay increases after reducing a more generous proposal of a special pay commission, said that Congress still can repeal the raise.