Touch and go on dairy bill

President Reagan was expected to win a Senate vote Tuesday on an amendment that sidetracked his dairy support bill last week, but he faces other challenges to the bill, with time running out. The administration has resisted attempts to amend the bill, written to save taxpayers $147 million and consumers about 8 cents a gallon on milk by skipping an April 1 increase in dairy supports.

Amendments would bog it down past the April 1 deadline. If the increase goes into effect, the dairy support program will cost nearly $2 billion this year. The Senate voted Tuesday on the issue, which has become the first actual legislative test of Reagan budget proposals.