A bipartisan coalition among members of the Senate BankingCommittee defeated myriad amendments and approved a regulatoryoverhaul bill that even supporters said was “modest.”

“It’s a good solid modest start,” said Sen. John Kennedy(R-La.)

The bill, S. 2155 has the support of credit union trade groups,and it is sponsored by ten Republicans and ten Democrats.

The committee approved the bill, 16-7. It is not clear when thebill will go to the Senate floor.

Senate Banking Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Id.) hammered out thelegislation with a group of moderate Democratic Banking Committeemembers after talks with the panel’s ranking Democrat, SherrodBrown of Ohio broke down.

Kennedy and other senators said the bipartisan group that wrotethe bill had agreed to oppose all amendments to the measure.

“We’ve agreed to link arms,” said Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.).

Republicans did not offer any amendments to the bill, whileDemocrats concentrated many of their amendments on increasingconsumer protection rules they said protect servicemembers andstudent borrowers.

“The reforms in this bipartisan bill help tailor the currentregulatory landscape, while ensuring safety and soundness andrelieving the burden on American businesses that are unfairly beingtreated like the largest companies in our economy,” Crapo said, asthe markup began.

Crapo said some Republicans had amendments they would have likedto offer, but he requested that they not pursue them because thebipartisan group could not reach agreement on them.

Brown said he opposed the measure.

“This bill makes changes to help some of the largest banks inthis country -- and the world -- while rolling back some of theprotections put in place after the Great Recession to protecthomebuyers and homeowners,” Brown said.

The legislation includes a credit union-specific provision thatprovides that a one-to-four family dwelling that is not the primaryresidence of a member will not be considered a member business loanunder the Federal Credit Union Act.

Another section of the bill “provides that certain mortgageloans that are originated and retained in portfolio by an insureddepository institution or an insured credit union with less than$10 billion in total consolidated assets will be deemed qualifiedmortgages under the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) while maintainingconsumer protections,” according to a summary of provisionsreleased by the senators.

The bill also would increase the so-called “too big to fail”threshold from $50 billion in assets to $250 billion in assets.Those institutions are the ones targeted for the toughestregulatory scrutiny.

The legislation is far less broad than House-passed legislationthat would overhaul much of the Dodd-Frank Act. That legislation,written by House Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling(R-Texas) received no Democratic votes in the House and would notgain the 60 votes needed to pass the Senate.

On the other hand, Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hi.) predicted the Crapobill will gain a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate.