WASHINGTON (CNNMoney.com) -- Wall Street reform cleared a crucial test vote on Thursday, all but assuring final Senate passage of the most sweeping regulatory overhaul since the New Deal. The Senate voted 60 to 40 to meet the threshold to overcome filibusters and send the measure to a final vote within days. Three Republicans voted for it, and two Democrats voted against it.
The legislation aims to stop bailouts, shines a light on complex financial products and strengthens consumer protection, to a final vote.
Final passage, which will require only 51 votes, is likely to come within days.
"We've made great progress ... it's been hard to get to this point," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. "It's been a good debate. It's been the way the Senate should operate more often than it has."
The bill failed in a similar test vote on Wednesday. One key change Thursday was that Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., switched his vote to "yes."
"Senator Brown received assurances from Senator Reid and his leadership team that the issues related to Massachusetts in the financial reform bill will be fixed before it is signed into law," Brown spokeswoman Gail Gitcho told CNN on Thursday.
Reid said he planned to have the Senate hold votes on amendments later on Thursday.
What reform means: Congress first started working on financial overhaul last spring. The House passed a version in December, and the Senate began drafting bills last November.
Since January 2009, financial services firms have spent nearly $600 million and hired hundreds of lobbyists to influence the debate, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
The legislation would establish a consumer financial protection regulatory agency that could write new rules to protect consumers from unfair or abusive mortgages and credit cards.
It would create a council of regulators that would sound an alarm before companies are in position to trigger a financial crisis. The bill would also establish new procedures for shutting down giant financial firms that are collapsing.
The battle lines: Republicans object to some of the bill's major provisions, particularly parts that establish the consumer agency and create new rules for the complex financial products, called derivatives. While they generally favor more consumer protection and more regulation of derivatives, they argue that the legislation is too heavy-handed in these areas.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has called the bill an expansion of "big government." But others like Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, who has offered and supported changes to the bill, said he voted against cloture to create another opportunity to consider more amendments.
What's next One of the last remaining amendments to be considered is an effort to toughen a ban on banks from owning hedge funds and making risky best on their own accounts. Called the Volcker rule, for former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker, the bill would give leeway to regulators on how exactly to implement the bans. Democrats want a legislative change removing some of that leeway, leaving less of an opening for a watering down of the ban.
However, due to timing constraints and Senate rules, Democrats now can only get a vote and passage of their tough language if the Senate also passes another controversial remaining amendment, a Republican-backed change to exempt auto dealers from the purview of the proposed new consumer protection regulator.
