Senate Begins Debate on L.A. Riot Aid Bill

The Senate began debate Wednesday on a post-riot aid package for Los Angeles that includes $1.45 billion in increases for spending on summer jobs and education programs across the nation--an add-on vigorously opposed by the Bush Administration.

The action came after President Bush personally warned that the additional spending for domestic programs was “not acceptable” and hinted that enacting it now might disrupt talks between the White House and Congress over longer-term urban aid.

The post-riot package includes two parts--$494.7 million for disaster relief, and $500 million for direct loans to small businesses that were damaged during the rioting. Neither of those elements is opposed by the Administration.

But the Senate also added $1.45 billion to increase spending for social programs in the nation’s inner cities, including $700 million to provide summer jobs for youths and $250 million each for Head Start, summer school programs and the “Weed and Seed” program, which seeks to weed out crime and seed neighborhoods with rehabilitation efforts.

The Senate is expected to pass the aid package formally early today, sending it to a House-Senate conference committee that will try to resolve differences with a House-approved version that contains only the aid for Los Angeles.

If the $1.45 billion in increased spending survives, Bush would have to either accept it despite his reservations or veto the entire aid package--a step that could prove embarrassing in the wake of the Los Angeles riots.

The Senate debate came as White House Chief of Staff Samuel K. Skinner formally opened talks with top congressional leaders on how to develop a longer-term urban aid program. But he apparently made little progress beyond setting up a schedule for negotiations.