May 12, 1982

When an inmate enters the Kentucky state prison for women, no matter what her age or crime, her street clothes are taken away and replaced with dull, shapeless, green state-issued dresses; she is not allowed to wear makeup or display pictures of her children or other loved ones; she must turn out the lights and go to bed at 9:30 P.M. In her cell she may possess a Bible, an ashtray and a drinking glass. After a minimum of 11 months of flawlessly good behavior, she may work up to the top level of privilege and may occasionally sit on the grass, take medicine, wear her own clothes, stay up later and make three 10-minute telephone calls a month. The only vocational training available is in clerical work. As both sides in what may be a nationally significant sexdiscrimination case agree, male prisoners at all but the state's stiffest maximum-security institution are allowed to talk on the telephone at least 120 minutes a month; are subject to none of the other rules about dress, photographs and bedtimes, and have more than a dozen areas of vocational training open to them.

By Marian Burros c. 1982 N.Y. Times News Service For many busy people evening meals mean carryout, usually a fairly expensive solution; eating out, an even more expensive one; heating TV dinners, a tasteless alternative, or eating out of cans, a depressing thought. The more ambitious cook ahead on the weekend or rely on menus that take no more than 30 minutes to prepare. For those who are willing to spend some time in front of the stove there is one additional variation on the theme: cooking ahead on purpose. Then the ''on purpose'' leftovers can be used as the base for a quickly made dish at the next meal.

The three business representatives on the State Financial Control Board warned yesterday that they would withhold their required full approval of New York City's budget for as long as it continued to be based on more than $500 million in uncertain state aid and taxes. The three so-called private members of the seven-member Control Board also said that unqualified endorsement of the city's financial plans was jeopardized by questions about the eventual size of a wage settlement with municipal labor unions and by a Transit Authority deficit of more than $200 million. Without the unqualified imprimatur of the Control Board, the city, in the view of many officials, would find it difficult and perhaps impossible to borrow the money it needs. 'Clear' Responsibility ''If all these problems cannot be resolved by the time we must act, we believe that our responsibility is clear,'' the three board members said in a joint statement that was unusual both in its strong tone and the very fact that it was issued.

House Republican leaders today rejected the budget plan endorsed by President Reagan and the Senate Budget Committee, objecting to proposed changes in the Social Security system and to a major tax increase in a recession. Specifically, they rejected the Senate Republican proposal to commit Congress to find $40 billion in savings in Social Security outlays before a bipartisan study commission makes its recommendations at year's end. The House Republicans also said they regarded proposals to raise taxes by $95 billion as excessive and sought a larger reduction in military spending than the Senate committee adopted. In another setback for the Reagan Administration, a large number of Republicans defied their leaders as the House approved a $1 billion emergency appropriation to provide mortgage subsidies to revive the depressed housing industry. (Page A23.)

Mayor William V. Musto of Union City, N.J., won re-election yesterday, 24 hours after being sentenced to seven years in prison on racketeering charges. In Newark, the state's largest city, Mayor Kenneth A. Gibson, who was seeking a fourth term, finished first but without a majority and will face a runoff election on June 15 with Earl Harris, the President of the City Council. Both have been indicted on charges relating to the creation of a no-show city job. Elections were also being held across the state in Trenton, Atlantic City and Paterson, among other communities. In Union City, Libero Marotta, the 53-year-old lawyer who waged a relentless battle against Mayor Musto, conceded defeat an hour after the polls closed.