Bush Signals Veto of New Jobless Aid Bill : Legislation: It’s called threat to recovery. The President has already scuttled or killed two other bids to extend unemployment benefits.

President Bush signaled Wednesday that he would veto a scaled-down, pay-as-you-go bill to extend jobless benefits to victims of the recession, despite efforts by Democrats to make the legislation acceptable to the White House.

Presidential Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater said the bill now under consideration in the House would deter economic growth, threaten the anemic recovery now under way and lead to increased unemployment.

The measure, which the House is expected to pass overwhelmingly next week, is designed to avoid a second presidential veto of legislation to extend unemployment benefits. The current bill would provide seven to 13 more weeks of payments to an estimated 3 million workers who have exhausted the basic 26 weeks of unemployment benefits and still do not have jobs.

To generate the $5.3 billion needed to offset the cost of extended benefits and related administrative expenses from early November until July 4, the bill would raise payroll taxes on employers, starting in 1993 and ending in 1997.

This self-financing provision was added after Bush had vetoed an earlier benefit extension bill on the grounds that it would have violated last year’s budget agreement and increased the huge $300-billion deficit because it contained no financing mechanism.

Democrats, who have accused the President of displaying a callous attitude toward jobless Americans while spending freely to help foreigners in distress, are certain to be infuriated by the new veto warning. Bush has backed a lower-cost proposal that would extend benefits for up to 10 weeks and would do far less for workers who have exhausted their benefits.

The White House announcement brought an instant retort from House Majority Leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.). “I know the President is more concerned about his foreign travel than unemployed Americans, but we feel differently,” Gephardt said. “We want to help the jobless feed their families, and a veto override might remind the President of his responsibilities here at home.”

Earlier in the day, House Democratic Whip David E. Bonior of Michigan said: “This has been a terribly tough year for millions of Americans. Unfortunately, we have to fight our way through an Administration roadblock built on cynicism and insensitivity.”

In an initial skirmish with Congress, Bush in late August signed a bill to extend jobless benefits but blocked payments by refusing to declare an “emergency.” Such a declaration was needed to permit the added spending without offsetting the cost with spending reductions or revenue increases.

He later vetoed another benefit extension proposal, and his veto was sustained when the Senate fell two votes short of overriding.

When asked about the new jobless benefits bill, which was approved 22 to 14 on Tuesday by the House Ways and Means Committee, Fitzwater said that, if it comes to the President’s desk in the same form as approved by the committee, his senior advisers would recommend a veto.

“The bill would deter growth and violate the pay-as-you-go requirements of the budget agreement,” the White House spokesman said. “It would have an adverse effect on job creation due to the increase in payroll taxes. It would have a negative effect on financial markets that could threaten the economic recovery and lead to increased unemployment.”

One Administration official said that the legislation could be a “real drag on the economy” because it would increase the taxable wage base for unemployment insurance, paid only by employers, to $7,700 from $7,000 a year, starting in 1993. At the current rate of taxation, that would amount to an increase of $5.60 a year for each worker on the payroll.

Also, the measure raised concern “more now than ever” that Bush’s approval would give Democrats an opening wedge to scuttle the budget accord that was painfully negotiated by congressional leaders and the White House late last year, the official added.

The developments occurred as a new national poll indicated that Americans favor extension of unemployment benefits for up to 20 weeks by a margin of 57% to 38%.

A breakdown of registered voters showed that Republicans opposed the added benefits by 62% to 33%, but Democrats supported an extension, 75% to 22%, and independents favored it by 57% to 35%. The poll, taken by the Washington firm of Belden & Russonello among 1,000 adults in telephone interviews from Oct. 9 to 17, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

Other recent surveys also indicate that Bush’s handling of the economy is meeting with substantial disapproval and narrowed his overall lead against an unknown Democratic opponent in advance of the 1992 elections.

Fitzwater shrugged off the latest measurements of public opinion by saying, “Polls go up, polls go down.”

As for the condition of the economy, he said, the White House believes that recovery has begun, but “it is slower than hoped for.” He refused to say when the Administration will submit a new economic growth package, a major topic of discussion at the White House during the last week.

Staff writer Douglas Jehl contributed to this story.