CLINTON'S AGENDA WILL TEST TONE OF AMITY.

Byline: Alison Mitchell The New York Times

After months of invoking bipartisanship, President Clinton this week formally presents his legislative agenda and his budget, beginning the long struggle that will determine whether the Republican-controlled Congress and the Democratic president can really enter a season of cooperation.

Clinton starts off this debate in a stronger position than in years, given new legitimacy in his re-election and the highest public approval ratings of his presidency. Indeed, Republicans are no longer pronouncing his proposals dead on arrival, though that is in part because Clinton has moved so far in their direction since the Republicans won control of Congress in 1994.

He has used two recent speeches, an appearance before the centrist Democratic Leadership Council and his inaugural address, to give an ideological coherence to the small-scale campaign proposals that positioned him in the political center. He has said he advocates a government ``humble enough not to solve all our problems for us but strong enough to give us the tools to solve our problems for ourselves.'' Now, his aides say, he will demonstrate what he means through concrete programs.

White House officials say the president will seize the moment in his State of the Union message on Tuesday by first calling on Congress and the nation to complete the ``unfinished business'' of balancing the budget, finding jobs for welfare recipients and overhauling campaign finance laws. To give urgency to the campaign finance issue, he is expected to call for action by July 4.

As he has increasingly since the Republicans won control of Congress, Clinton will not just urge legislative action but also will call for individuals, communities and states to take steps on their own to grapple with the nation's social ills.

Returning to the family centered themes of his campaign, Clinton plans to make education a cornerstone of his agenda for the next four years. He is expected to call for schools across the country to test whether their students are performing up to nationally recognized standards and to explain how the federal government can help create the climate for such rigor.

Clinton also plans to tackle the issue of health insurance once again, this time with a series of initiatives intended to help the 10 million American children who lack coverage.

Many of the other proposals that the president made during the campaign will be fleshed out, among them plans to offer $3.4 billion in grants and tax relief to stimulate job creation for those who will be forced off welfare under stringent new time limits; proposals for tax credits and tax deductions to help pay for higher education; and a proposal to help maintain health insurance for unemployed workers.

Two days after his speech, Clinton plans to provide further detail by announcing his budget proposal for the 1998 fiscal year. Although the outlines of the program - which call for balancing the budget by 2002 while making $100 billion in tax cuts for specific social purposes - are almost identical to the proposals Clinton made last year, this time the Republicans are not dismissing the plan out of hand.

Sen. Trent Lott of Mississippi, the majority leader, said on Sunday that Republican leaders would invite Clinton to come to Capitol Hill on Wednesday, the day after his State of the Union message, for talks on the budget and a range of other issues.

On the ABC News program ``This Week,'' Lott said the invitation would send this message: ``Mr. President, it's time that we stop the little pigeon steps around here and let's begin to see what we can really do for the American people.''

Josh Silverman, a White House spokesman, said that the president had not yet received an official invitation and noted that Clinton had plans to be in Georgia on Wednesday as part of an effort to speak about education issues across the country. But the spokesman left the door open for a meeting soon, saying, ``As always the president looks forward to meeting with the Senate majority leader and bipartisan leadership.''

CAPTION(S):

BOX: ADDRESS TELECAST