House Offers Defense Hike of $5 Billion

House Democrats, trying to resolve a bitter dispute with the Senate over the 1988 budget, Wednesday offered to accept an additional $5 billion in defense spending to placate conservative senators.

The compromise was offered to break a weeks-old deadlock between conferees attempting to reconcile the competing House and Senate versions of the budget resolution. The Senate has been insisting on $8 billion more in defense spending than is provided in the House plan.

‘We hope this proposal will be of some appeal to Senate defense-oriented Democrats,” said a spokesman for Rep. William H. Gray III (D-Pa.), chairman of the House Budget Committee. “This plan is real; it is not contingent on the President’s agreement to taxes.”

Skepticism Expected

However, Senate Democrats are expected to react skeptically to the offer, with most Senate conferees adamant about holding firm to their defense figure.

The Senate plan calls for $289 billion in defense outlays and links $8 billion of it to a tax increase, despite President Reagan’s pledge to veto any new tax measures. The House compromise offer Wednesday proposed $286 billion, with no direct link to a tax increase.

Both the Senate and the House defense numbers fall short of the $297 billion in defense spending sought by President Reagan.

Seek Unified Front

While heatedly arguing their positions, Democrats in both chambers are eager to adopt a resolution quickly to provide a strong unified front against the President on the issue.

The budget resolution being debated would establish broad categories of federal spending for the 1988 fiscal year, which begins in October. The outlays for specific programs would be set later in appropriations bills. The House offer is “a very fair balance for defense and domestic programs,” Gray’s spokesman said.

If Senate Democrats “are really interested in defense spending,” they should welcome the House offer, said Rep. Vic Fazio (D-Sacramento), a House conferee.