May 26, 1983

The Senate Finance Committee agreed today to repeal tax withholding on interest and dividends, but voted to attach to the repeal bill a package of unrelated measures, including President Reagan's Caribbean Basin Initiative and a trade reciprocity bill. Senator Russell B. Long of Louisiana, the ranking Democrat on the committee, charged that today's action would so clutter the repeal bill passed by the House earlier this month that the Democrat-controlled House would not accept it, even if the Republican-dominated Senate passed the measure with all the elements proposed today. Senator Long said that the committee's action would in effect derail the effort to repeal withholding. He added, however, that he would work instead to have the Senate endorse the repeal bill passed earlier this month by the House, without amendments. That bill would repeal the existing law that requires financial institutions to withhold 10 percent of their customers' interest and dividend payments, starting July 1.

The United States has asked Cuba to take back as many as several thousand of the 125,000 Cubans who came to this country as part of the boatlift from the port of Mariel in 1980, the State Department said today. The department, in a formal statement, said that Thomas O. Enders, Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs, met on Tuesday with Ramon Sanchez-Parodi, the head of the Cuban Interests Section here, to make the request and officially inform him that until Cuba agreed to the return of the so-called ineligibles, no more immigrant visas would be granted to Cubans except for immediate relatives of those already in the United States. A department official said Mr. Enders gave Mr. Sanchez-Parodi a list of 789 people now in Federal prison in Atlanta who are subject to deportation under the legal status of ''final order of exclusion.'' The United States, the official said, wants these 789 to be accepted as part of a total that could run to ''a few thousand,'' he said.

Even before the discussions begin at the seven-nation economic summit conference this weekend, President Reagan has given the gathering his personal stamp, taking on an unusually ambitious role as host, chairman, moderator, note-taker and reporter on the proceedings. Already, his aides disclose, his preparations for the meeting in Williamsburg, Va., have drawn him into extensive personal correspondence with the other leaders and prompted him to take six months of tutoring on international economic affairs. The role Mr. Reagan has chosen marks a striking shift for a President whose hallmark has been delegating responsibility to his staff and Cabinet, letting them work out details and negotiate compromises on his behalf, especially in the field of foreign affairs. 'Dear Maggie,' 'Dear Francois' Mr. Reagan, bypassing the corps of diplomats and economic specialists that normally prepare the annual gatherings, has used four rounds of personal correspondence with the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, West Germany, Italy, Japan and the European Common Market to work out the arrangements and themes for their discussions in Colonial Williamsburg, according to White House officials.

The rebuilding of highways and bridges in the New York area is being stepped up this year, bringing mixed news for the motorist this Memorial Day weekend. In the long run, the roads will be smoother and safer. But for now, there will be more jackhammers, asphalt trucks, detours, orange traffic cones and ''People Working'' signs on local roads than at any time in nearly 25 years. Confronting these highway conditions will be an onslaught of motorists filled with the hope that Memorial Day will break a pattern of rainy and overcast weekends. Chances of that, however, are not good, according to the National Weather Service, which admits predictions of more than a day ahead are risky. The outlook, the service ventured, is for clouds, rain and below-average temperatures.

Governor Cuomo yesterday proposed using state employees and several hundred utility workers in the evacuation plans for the two Indian Point nuclear reactors. The Governor offered the proposal in an effort to satisfy Federal concerns about emergency procedures there. The workers would substitute for Rockland County firefighters, police officers, ambulance drivers, Health Department workers and high-ranking county officials. The Rockland County Legislature has ordered county workers to boycott emergency drills while the county develops its own emergency plan.