NU Online News Service, June 29, 3:45 p.m.EDT

WASHINGTON–Negotiators on financial services reformlegislation reopened the conference this afternoon to remove a $19billion bank tax that potentially imperiled Senate passage thisweek.

They acted after Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., sent a letter toSen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., and Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., chairmanof the House Financial Services Committee, withdrawing his supportfor the bill because of the bank tax.

The tax would be assessed to financial institutions, includinginsurers, with assets of more than $50 billion over the next fiveyears in order to pay for the $19 billion the Congressional BudgetOffice estimated the legislation would cost.

Jeff Schuman, a life analyst at Keefe Bruyette Woods inHartford, discounted the impact of the tax and calculated the costof the levies to the nine large life insurers he covered would be1-to-2 percent of their net earnings.

The House Rules Committee was scheduled to meet at 3 p.m. todayto clear the bill for House action, probably Wednesday.

And the Senate wants to vote Wednesday as well because it plansto take off Thursday and Friday to honor Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., who died early Monday.

According to various sources, Sen. Dodd and Rep. Frank, whochair the conference, are proposing to replace the tax with anincrease in FDIC levies plus adding a provision that ends theTroubled Asset Relief Program earlier than its scheduled Oct. 3termination date.

Sen. Dodd was quoted by various sources as saying he was talkingto senators to see what needs to be done to get the 60 votes."

Various sources quoted Rep. Frank as saying: "I don't have anydoubt that he's going to get it. The question is what has to bedone. We're going to wait until he tells us, and then we'll moveforward."

Democrats need at least four Republicans to vote for the billbecause the death of Sen. Byrd left them with only 56 of the 60votes needed for passage.

Two Democrats–Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Sen. RussFeingold, D-Wis.–plan to vote "no" on the bill because they don'tthink it goes far enough in preventing a similar economiccrisis.

As a result, Democrats were counting on Sen. Brown, Sen. CharlesGrassley, R-Iowa, and Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, bothR-Maine, to vote for the bill.

Sen. Byrd's casket will lie in repose on the Senate floorbetween 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Thursday, a senior Senate aide saidTuesday. It will be the first ceremony of its kind in 51 years. Afuneral service will be held in West Virginia on Friday beginningat 11 a.m.