Passage of financial reform bill nears

The financial regulatory reform bill came a step closer to passing Monday as it received crucial Republican support.

Massachusetts GOP member Scott Brown indicated that he would vote in favor of the legislation. Brown and Maine’s Susan Collins are the only Republicans offering support – but the bill’s authors need just one more backer to secure the 60 votes that would move the legislative package forward without further debate.

The bill’s proponents could find what they’re looking for, Bloomberg reports, in Maine’s other senator, Republican Olympia Snowe. Iowa’s Chuck Grassley – also a member of the GOP – indicated he would support financial reform in the past and could be the all-important 60th vote, as well.

Brown’s willingness to back the financial reform bill is significant. The Democrats’ healthcare reform legislation was believed to be a nonstarter after he was elected in January; pundits widely interpreted his victory as a sign that voters – even in the decidedly blue state of Massachusetts – were concerned with the White House’s ambitious reform agenda.

Brown didn’t support healthcare reform, but he’s now on board with the bank reform that the Obama administration has championed.

"Send me a reform bill I can sign into law, so we can empower our people with consumer protections, and help prevent a financial crisis like this from ever happening again," President Barack Obama said to Congress in a late-June radio address.

While Republicans have raised concerns about the financial reform legislation’s impact on credit availability and bank soundness, recent tweaks gave it far less bite than bankers and their Congressional allies feared.

"It is a better bill than it was when this whole process started," Brown said in a Monday statement.

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