THE FEDERAL BUDGET: WHERE ELSE THEY’LL BE CUTTING, CHANGING

While the heart of the five-year, $500-billion deficit reduction plan being considered by Congress involves tax increases and Medicare spending cuts, there is a wide range of other, little-noticed measures that make up a large part of the budget package and that will affect the lives of many Americans.

These all require changes in law to bring about the prescribed spending reductions, user fees and increased fines.

The House (H) and Senate (S) versions of the budget legislation are similar in most cases, but there are some differences, as noted below. All figures for spending cuts and revenue gains are for five years. AGRICULTURE

Reduce direct income subsidies to farmers growing wheat, cotton, rice, corn and other feed grains. Reductions in acreage eligible for subsidies would be 15% in 1992 and 1993, 20% in 1994 and 25% in 1995. Savings, $6.5 billion (H), $7.19 billion (S).

Require a 15% cut in average wheat acreage planted over the last five years. Savings, $945 million (H, S).

Mandate a 7.5% acreage set-aside for feed grains. Savings, $905 million (S).

Change the method of calculating direct income subsidies known as “deficiency payments”--payments covering the difference between the market price and an artificially set “target price” for wheat, feed grains and rice. Market price would be based on a 12-month average instead of the current five months. Savings, $4 billion (H), $2.69 billion (S).

Charge a 7% origination fee for newly established soybean marketing loans. Savings, $200 million (H). Establish an oilseeds marketing loan at $5 or $5.50 per bushel for soybeans, depending on size of stocks. Savings unknown (S).

Charge a 3% origination fee for loans made under existing price support programs for sugar, tobacco, peanuts and honey. Also, collect a 1% service fee on deficiency payments made under the wool and mohair program. Savings, $168 million (H, S).

Reduce the price received by milk producers in the federal dairy program by 5 cents per 100 pounds in fiscal 1991 and 11.25 cents in 1992-95. Savings, $700 million (H). Assess dairy producers 10 cents per hundredweight for all milk produced over the next five years. Savings, $482 million (S).

Shift all but $500 million of Farmers Home Administration lending from direct to guaranteed loans. Savings, $1.6 billion (H, S).

Similarly shift 25% of Rural Electrification Administration lending. Savings, $610 million (H, S).

Collect fees to cover the cost of agricultural quarantine and inspection services for animals and plants passing through U.S. Customs. Revenue gain, $400 million (H, S). Totals: House $15.123 billion, Senate $14.990 billion BANKING

Empower the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to increase commercial bank insurance premiums. Revenue gain, $9 billion (H, S).

Give the Resolution Trust Corp. and the FDIC priority on recovery of the assets of failed savings and loans. Savings, $95 million (S). Totals: House $9 billion, Senate $9.095 billion CIVIL SERVICE

Suspend for five years the opportunity for federal civilian employees who retire after Oct. 31, 1990, to receive all retirement benefits in one lump sum. Exempted are employees who are at least 65 years old and have completed 30 years of service at retirement. Savings, $7.6 billion (H), $8.05 billion (S).

Exempt the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program from state premium tax requirements. Also, adopt cost containment measures. Savings, $1.12 billion (H), $155 million (S).

Require Postal Service and District of Columbia government to pay employers’ share of Federal Employee Health Benefits Program premiums. Savings, $4.43 billion (S).

Shorten the time required to notify recipients of federal benefits about the adverse results of a computer match on their eligibility. Savings, $270 million (S).

Make pension management changes in the Defense Department. Savings, $30 million (S). Totals: House $8.72 billion, Senate $12.935 billion EDUCATION

Tighten student loan program: delay payment of loans to first-year students until 30 days after classes begin; require high school diploma or passage of special exam to qualify for a loan; eliminate most schools with default rates over 35% from participation; reduce by 0.25% the federal interest subsidy paid to lenders. Savings, $1.67 billion (H), $2.03 billion (S). Totals: House $1.67 billion, Senate $2.03 billion HOUSING

Limit Federal Housing Administration mortgages to 98.75% of appraised value; phase down the up-front FHA insurance premium from the current 3.8% of the mortgage to 2.25%; require annual FHA insurance premiums of 0.50% or 0.55% of the remaining mortgage amount for up to 30 years; impose additional premiums if needed to keep the FHA fund sound. Savings, $2.56 billion (H, S).

Provide interest rate subsidies to holders of certain low-interest FHA mortgages to encourage them to retain the mortgages instead of returning them to the FHA for payment. Savings, $1 billion (H, S).

Renew programs that sell insurance to flood-prone communities and residents in high-crime urban areas, so that premiums will continue to cover long-term liability contracts. Also, increase flood insurance fees. Savings, $833 million (H, S). Totals: House $4.393 billion, Senate $4.393 billion INTERIOR

Eliminate payment to the Tongass timber supply fund. Savings, $204 million (H, S). Totals: House $204 million, Senate $204 million LABOR

Increase premiums paid by employers to the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corp. Revenue gain, $640 million (H, S).

Increase fees for violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act and Mine Safety and Health Act. Revenue gain, $1.21 billion (H, S).

Increase civil penalties for violations of child labor laws. Revenue gain, $45 million (H).

Increase penalties for violations of the National Labor Relations Act. Revenue gain, $96 million (H). Totals: House $1.991 billion, Senate $1.850 billion POSTAL SERVICE

Consider adding a penny to the price of a first-class stamp, plus other postage rate increases, to cover the cost of making the Postal Service liable for certain employee retirement expenses. Savings, $5.8 billion (H). Totals: House $5.8 billion, Senate 0 USER FEES

Impose fees on nuclear power plants, hospitals, universities and other licensees of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to cover NRC costs. Savings, $1.55 billion (H, S).

Impose safety inspection fees on railroads to cover costs of the Federal Railroad Administration. Savings, $170 million (H, S).

Impose a travel fee on foreign passengers entering the country by airline or ship. Revenue gain, $63 million (H, S).

Renew fees for cleaning up abandoned coal mines. Revenue gain, $618 million (H).

Increase fees on oil shale claims. Revenue gain, $14 million (H).

Increase patent and trademark fees. Revenue gain, $495 million (H, S).

Require the Environmental Protection Agency to impose fees under the Clean Water Act and for pesticide registrations, radon proficiency ratings, vehicle engine certifications and vehicle fuel economy tests. Revenue gain, $145 million (H), $154 million (S).

Charge Coast Guard fees for inspection of vessels and licensing of crew members. Revenue gain, $173 million (H). Establish other Coast Guard fees. Savings, $1 billion (S).

Raise tonnage taxes, for the first time since 1909, that are collected from vessels arriving from foreign ports. Revenue gain, $950 million (H).

Increase fees on commercial users of data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Revenue gain, $8 million (H), $25 million (S).

Increase fees paid for storage of used high-level nuclear waste. Revenue gain, $25 million (H).

Impose a fee for decommission and decontamination of nuclear utilities. Savings, $194 million (S).

Impose recreation user fees on Army Corps of Engineers campsites, swimming beaches and boat launching ramps. Savings, $200 million (S). Totals: House $4.211 billion, Senate $3.851 billion VETERANS

Increase the amount that the Veterans Administration can collect for non-service-connectedinjuries from the insurance companies of service-connected veterans who have their own insurance. Savings, $734 million (H), $990 million (S).

Require the Internal Revenue Service to verify a veteran’s income for pension eligibility. Also, require benefit applicants to provide Social Security numbers to prevent fraud. Savings, $743 million (H), $778 million (S).

Eliminate the presumption that veterans who served during wartime are totally disabled at age 65, thereby entitling them to a basic pension. Require, instead, that the government determine whether at 65 the veteran was unemployable and thus eligible for a pension. Savings, $313 million (H, S).

Prohibit payment of compensation and pensions for a disability resulting from a veteran’s willful misconduct, including secondary effects such as cirrhosis of the liver caused by alcoholism. Savings, $334 million (H, S).

Require a $2 co-payment for prescription drugs used to treat non-service-connected disabilities. Savings, $85 million (H). Extend requirement to service-connected veterans who are less than 40% disabled. Savings, $411 million (S).

Require veterans who do not suffer from a service-connected disability, but who have limited incomes, to pay certain deductibles for Veterans Administration health care as well as co-payments for outpatient services, inpatient care and nursing home care. Savings, $45 million (H), $217 million (S).

End pension benefits for surviving spouses who remarry but become single again. Savings, $374 million (H, S).

Limit vocational rehabilitation to veterans with disability ratings of 20% or more (instead of the current 10%). Savings, $180 million (H). Increase the limit to 30% or more. Savings, $312 million (S).

Stop compensation payments to “incompetent” veterans without dependents whose estates exceed $25,000. Savings, $291 million (H), $778 million (S).

Increase VA housing loan origination fees to 1.5% from 1.0%. Savings, $73 million (H). Increase fees by an additional 0.25%. Savings, $402 million (S).

Require the VA to match death data with the Social Security Administration to avoid compensation and pension overpayments. Savings, $47 million (S).

Reduce education benefits to 33% of the normal amount during extended periods (more than one week) between school terms. Savings, $262 million (S).

Reduce pension payments to Medicaid-eligible nursing home residents. Savings, $539 million (S).

Limit the criteria for the federal payment of plot allowances to states for veterans who are eligible to be buried in national cemeteries. Savings, $147 million (S).

Eliminate the allowance the VA pays to state veterans cemeteries for veterans eligible for burial in national cemeteries. Savings, $19 million (S).

Round down to the nearest dollar the cost-of-living adjustment for disability compensation for fiscal 1991 and reduce by $1 the COLA for veterans rated less than 20% disabled. Savings, $113 million (S). Totals: House $3.172 billion, Senate $6.036 billion All: House $54.284 billion, Senate $55.384 billion