EARTHQUAKE: THE LONG ROAD BACK : Senate Gets $8.6-Billion Aid Plan : Relief: Main issue is assistance to illegal immigrants. Bill is likely to reach Clinton this week.

Staying on its fast track, the California earthquake aid bill was sent to the full Senate on Tuesday with promises of upcoming skirmishes over how to pay for the $8.6-billion package and stricter limits on benefits to illegal immigrants.

The measure, which would be the largest emergency aid package ever adopted, appeared to be headed toward President Clinton’s desk by the end of the week. It contains funds for housing vouchers, emergency medical care, highways, schools and other public facilities, and loans for homeowners, renters and small-business owners.

Before sending the bill to the Senate floor, the Appropriations Committee incorporated $3.44 billion in reductions in other programs to pay for part of the aid to quake-ravaged Southern California. This compared to $2.5 billion that the House recommended.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said the differences are not significant enough to delay the bill’s adoption.

In addition, Sen. Bob Kerrey (D-Neb.) said he will propose a temporary increase in the national gas tax to help defray the costs. A similar proposal by Kerrey after last year’s floods in the Midwest was resoundingly defeated.

The major remaining fight appears to loom over how the government should handle the volatile issue of assisting illegal immigrants victimized by the Jan. 17 temblor. A bruising debate, forestalled by a compromise in the House last week, appears likely when the Senate considers the bill today.

Sen. Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) proposed an amendment in the Appropriations Committee to require federal agencies to “take reasonable steps to determine whether any individual seeking (earthquake aid) is lawfully within the United States.” Reid sought to tighten a measure adopted in the House that prohibits longer-term assistance when it is known that an applicant is in the country illegally--but does not require agencies to inquire about legal status.

Reid’s initiative was defeated by a voice vote in the committee. He vowed to pursue the proposal on the Senate floor.

For illegal immigrants to receive aid beyond medical or immediate emergency care “is simply not fair to California citizens or the citizens of this country,” said Reid, who has sponsored a hard-line package of bills to crack down on illegal immigration. “The House bill’sprovision does not go far enough.”

He called it: “Don’t ask, don’t tell.”

Reid said his measure would apply to 18-month housing vouchers for rent and loans for small-business owners. Feinstein responded that illegal immigrants were not receiving such assistance. She voiced support for the House amendment.

“There is no way they can verify everyone’s legal status at the initial request,” Feinstein said. Citing the danger of communicable diseases among those left homeless and the long delays for those seeking help, she added: “This is not a practical solution.”

She said Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry G. Cisneros has told her he has a better alternative. She said he has pledged to go back and verify the legal status of applicants for 18-month rent subsidies after the grant is made. “So that the maximum that someone might be able to get away may be a month,” Feinstein said.

Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) said officials of the Federal Emergency Management Agency told her they would have to add 20 to 30 disaster assistance centers and hundreds of personnel to meet the demands of checking every applicant’s legal status. She said that could take months.

“The very nature of the processing would delay getting assistance out to American citizens in a timely way,” said Mikulski, who added that many victims had lost their documents amid the quake damage.

At one point, she turned to Reid and asked: “Senator, could you prove this afternoon that you are a citizen other than the fact you were elected to the United States Senate?”

Reid said that if an applicant could produce a driver’s license or Social Security card, “there is a presumption that you are a citizen of the United States.”

Any differences in the Senate and House versions of the emergency aid package will have to be negotiated in a conference committee of legislators from each chamber. The bill’s key proponents, seeking to finalize the measure before Congress takes a short recess next week, have sought to minimize disagreements that could extend the conference deliberations.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said that will be her goal on the floor today. She said she would join Feinstein in opposing Reid’s amendment as well as Kerrey’s gas tax proposal.

“I think we can handle this on the floor,” Boxer said. “My attempt is to get this moving quickly.”

At the request of Clinton, the Senate Appropriations Committee added another $250 million for aid for the Midwest floods--bringing the total cost of the emergency spending measure to $10 billion. The bill already included $750 million for flood relief and repairs from the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, as well as $1.2 billion for military peacekeeping operations in Bosnia, Somalia, Haiti, Iraq and elsewhere.

The committee also voted to support a resolution calling for a bipartisan task force to assess methods for paying for disaster relief in the future. The House appointed such a panel last week.

Relief Package

Here is a breakdown of pending legislation to provide $8.6 million in earthquake relief. The bill was sent to the full Senate Tuesday.

Federal Emergency Management Agency * Allocation: $4.7 billion for disaster relief.

* Uses: Repair public facilities, including schools and water systems; aid individuals and families with temporary housing and crisis counseling; support efforts to reduce damage in future earthquakes.

* Allocation: $15 million to increase scientific understanding of earthquakes.

* Uses: Post-earthquake assessment and recommendations on improving seismic safety nationwide based on lessons learned from the Northridge temblor.

Department of Transportation * Allocation: $1.35 billion to rebuild damaged roadways and bridges.

Housing and Urban Development * Allocation: $225 million to assist quake victims.

* Uses: $200 million for Section 8 rental housing assistance (subsidies for an estimated 15,000 dislocated families in private apartments for 18 months; victims with income at or below 50% of the local median income). $25 million to repair damage to public housing projects in earthquake areas.

* Allocation: $100 million for flexible subsidy to finance the replacement or repair of federally insured and/or assisted multifamily housing projects damaged by quake. Department estimates that 7,500 low- and moderate-income families are affected.

* Allocation: $250 million for community development grants for a range of housing needs,

including replacement and rehabilitation of damaged housing.

Small Business Administration * Allocation: $1.4 billion in loan support and loans for homeowners, renters and small-business owners.

* Uses: $309 million in government funds to support the loans. $1.1 billion in low-interest loans to assist in recovery from physical damage of quake.

Veterans Affairs * Allocation: $21 million for health care of veterans affected by quake. (Note: Sepulveda VA Medical Center is closed and patients have been sent to other VA hospitals in the area.)

* Allocation: $45 million for construction and repairs at damaged VA facilities.

* Uses: Primarily to repair buildings and restore electrical and water services at the VA Medical Center in Sepulveda and repair damage at the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center.

Presidential Contingencies * Allocation: $500 million for emergency earthquake costs as requested by the President.

* Uses: In the past, such funds have been used for repair of federal buildings and agencies and equipment and utilities, replacement of damaged or lost supplies and procurement of temporary buildings or leases.

Source: House Emergency Appropriations Bill