NU Online News Service, June 28, 4:00 p.m.EDT

The death of Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., early Monday has raisedthe possibility that Democrats might have difficulty in getting thefinancial services reform legislation through the Senate before theIndependence Day recess.

A key concern is the potential loss of Sen. Scott Brown,R-Mass., a moderate who supported the bill when it passed theSenate in late May but appeared to be backing off after Democratsadded a small tax to be levied against large financial servicesfirms to pay for the bill.

Joseph Lieber, who covers Congress for Washington Analysis, afirm which advises institutional investors, said, "There is a goodpossibility that they might have to wait until after the July 4threcess to get this done."

First, he said, the Democratic Senate leadership has to waituntil after Sen. Byrd's funeral for West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin,a Democrat, to appoint a successor.

Moreover, Sen. Brown is wavering in his support for the bill,and Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, "is also voicing concerns," Mr.Lieber said.

"If they can't get Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., and Sen. MariaCantwell, D-Wash., to switch from their previous 'no' vote, thereis also the possibility they could be forced to open up theconference to make changes," Mr. Lieber said.

At the same time, an insurance lobbyist said, "There appeared tobe no panic by Democrats over the death of Sen. Byrd. [Sen.Cantwell] opposes the bill because she doesn't think it is strongenough, but she won't let it fail on the Senate floor."

And Regan Lachapelle, deputy communications director for Sen.Harry Reid, D-Nev., Senate majority leader, said, "We will awaitaction by the House, but it is still possible that we will considerthe conference report this week."

Sen. Brown issued a statement Friday voicing concern about alast-minute decision of conferees to the bill to add a provisionthat imposed a tax on financial institutions, including insurers,with assets of more than $50 billion over the next five years inorder to pay for the $19 billion the Congressional Budget Officeestimated the legislation would cost.

"I was surprised and extremely disappointed to hear that $19billion in new assessments and fees were added in the wee hours ofthe morning by the conference committee," Sen. Brown said.

"While I'm still reviewing the bill's details, these provisionswere not in the Senate version of the bill which I previouslysupported," he added.

"My fear is that these costs would be passed onto consumers inthe form of higher bank, ATM and credit card fees and put a strainon lending at the worst possible time for our economy," Sen. Brownsaid.

But Jeffrey Schuman, an analyst with Keefe, Bruyette and Woods,in Hartford, discounted the impact of the tax.

He said the assessment will start no later than late 2012 andwill be spread over four years. He said that assuming a tax ofroughly 4 basis points a year, he sees a "modest impact" onearnings for insurance companies.