Addressing a packed crowd at the Institute of Politics last night, Texas Governor Ann Richards decried the condition of American federalism, saying that her state is crippled by federal restrictions on spending.

Richards, the chair of the 1992 Democratic convention and a sharp critic of the Bush administration, said federal mandates leave her administration with effective control of only 16 percent of the state budget.

"What we're doing is separating the power to make policy from the responsibility of paying for it," Richards said.

Richards, 59, attributed many of the state financial woes to the economic policy of the administrations of former President Ronald Reagan and President Bush. Saying that they have quadrupled the federal deficit in the past 12 years, she said that the burden of any future government programs will fall to the states.

"New [federal] mandates require new spending and someone else to come up with the cash," Richards said.

Richards also stressed the need to make government more responsive to people's needs, saying that budgets must be organized accordingly.

"If a bureaucracy is a fortress, the budget process is its first line of de- fense," Richards said.

Richards, who will be on the stump for ArkansasGov. Bill Clinton this month, strongly endorsedthe Democratic presidential nominee.

"I think it's time we have some one who knowswhat it is like to be on the receiving end [offederal spending rules]," she said.

Regardless of who is in the White House comeJanuary, However, Richards said that "Washingtonwill have its plate full getting its own house inorder" and that states will have to find solutionson their own.

Richards, known for her steely wit, confessedto the packed audience at the Kennedy School thatshe wanted "to be profound and insightful." "Iwant to show the prismatic nature of my mind," shesaid. "After all, I am at Harvard."

Encouraged Public Service

The Texas governor encouraged would-bepoliticians in the crowd to go into publicservice.

"No work is more rewarding," she said. "Youwill never receive a greater kind of gratificationthan when someone looks you in the eye and saysthank you for helping to make my life better."

Richards also fielded questions that rangedfrom the impact of defense cuts on her state tothe effect of Ross Perot's re-entry into thepresidential contest.

She said that Perot's campaign would probablyhelp Bill Clinton. "We have a chance at winningTexas," Richards said. "The people begin to payattention the last two weeks. Whoever has thecapacity [to grab their attention] then will win.