THE ECONOMY : Rift Over S&L; Bill Procedures Ends : Only Major Issue Unresolved Involves Financing System

House and Senate members working on legislation to rescue the savings and loan industry settled a procedural feud Friday, moving significantly closer to a comprehensive plan that will include tough financial standards for thrift institutions.

House members had been irritated and surprised by the Senate’s offer Thursday of an overall package deal to replace the agenda of negotiations on each issue involved in the bailout. But the House conferees pondered the Senate proposal Thursday night and decided that they liked it because it accepts many details in the House version of the legislation.

The positions of the two legislative chambers are very similar on the “overwhelming majority” of issues, House Banking Committee Chairman Henry B. Gonzalez (D-Tex.) said. The two sides are “so close on everything,” he noted.

The sole major unresolved dispute involves the financing system, with the Senate and the Bush Administration favoring creation of a new agency that will issue bonds excluded from the federal budget. The House wants to get the funds through the sale of Treasury bonds, which are included in the budget.

“We are not very far apart,” said Senate Banking Committee Chairman Donald W. Riegle Jr. (D-Mich.). But he noted “a basic difference on the funding issue.”

Gonzalez said House staffers will develop a detailed counterproposal over the weekend to offer the Senate. House conferees will consider their plan Monday and offer it to the Senate on Tuesday.

Capital Issue Discussed

After conferees exchanged compliments on the new-found spirit of cooperation, Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.) said: “We’re all happy we agree; let’s get to work.” Members of the conference applauded.

The meeting Friday dealt exclusively with the issue of capital--that is, the amount of money to be put up by S&L; owners as the financial underpinning of their thrift institutions.

The House members took tough elements of both bills to assemble a proposal on capital standards for submission to Senate negotiators.

Owners of S&Ls; would be required to furnish $3 in capital for every $100 in loans made by the institution. If the owners put their own funds at risk, the legislators believe, they will be less likely to make loans on risky or dubious business ventures.

The latest proposal, offered Friday by the House, says the owners must put up cash equal to 1.5% of the loan portfolio by June, 1990, en route to the standard of 3% by 1995. For now, the other 1.5% could come from such intangible items as goodwill, the value of an institution beyond its financial holdings and physical assets.

The intangible category also includes the value of mortgage-servicing activity, which consists of the fees earned for collecting monthly payments from homeowners and other borrowers.

Some Tough Controls

Under Friday’s proposal, an S&L; calculating capital toward the 3% rule could include the value of mortgage-servicing rights it has purchased, but the fees on mortgages it already holds could not be included. This would prevent an S&L; from counting fees on some loans that may have gone bad.

S&Ls; unable to meet the capital standards would face the imposition of tough controls by federal regulators.

The use of junk bonds remains an unresolved issue, because the House bill would prohibit such investments entirely for S&Ls.; The Senate proposal, by contrast, would permit an S&L; to have up to 6% of its assets in junk bonds.

After Friday’s session, negotiators expressed confidence that they could finish work on the bill early next week.