WASHINGTON INSIGHT

L.A. LIST: Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry G. Cisneros has a task force drawing up a federal aid list for South-Central Los Angeles. He wants to make the riot-battered area the centerpiece of a new urban package. In a letter to Cisneros, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) suggests several items. One is enterprise zones: A business would pay no federal income and capital gains taxes for 10 years if it hired half its workers from the surrounding area. Another idea: Special banks would provide small business loans “based upon the applicant’s ability to succeed rather than the collateral on hand.”. . . . Unbeknown to Clinton Administration officials, George Bush’s Administration issued a report on the day of Clinton’s inauguration proclaiming that $1.4 billion had been “made available” for the Los Angeles recovery, $200 million “more than promised.” Items included $5.8 million to hire 645 youths to tidy up national forests and $304 million in low-interest loans to help small businesses come back from last year’s riots. Local officials noted, however, that some items have yet to be funded.