For weeks now, debate swirled around the “Brownback Amendment” to the Senate financial reform bill. As the U.S. Senate considered a massive overhaul of the financial regulatory system, analysts predicted that a vote on the amendment was imminent. The amendment, offered by Republican Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas, generated significant interest from supporters, including the National Automobile Dealers Association, and detractors, including members of the Administration, the Pentagon and the banking industry. Despite all the speculation, however, on Thursday night the Senate voted on final passage of the “Restoring American Financial Stability Act” – without a vote on the Brownback Amendment.

At the core of the debate is the creation under the Senate bill of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau within the Federal Reserve. The legislation grants the Bureau new powers to regulate lending, and subjects auto dealer financing to the new regulatory body.

In an effort to protect auto dealers from onerous regulation, Senator Brownback offered an amendment that mirrors one adopted by the House of Representatives. That amendment, offered by Representative John Campbell, R-Calif., exempts dealers from the free-standing Consumer Financial Protection Agency created under the House reform bill. Over the course of the Senate debate, Senator Brownback modified his amendment several times to address concerns raised by consumer protection groups and others. And a vote on his amendment seemed imminent – until two Senators used a procedural move to attach unrelated legislation to the Brownback Amendment.

On May 19, Senators Carl Levin, D-Mich., and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., attached a provision dealing with proprietary trading to the Brownback Amendment. This move meant that to pass the Levin-Merkley amendment, which was strongly supported by the Administration and Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd, D-Conn., the Brownback Amendment would also have to pass. Opposition to the Brownback Amendment – and the opposition from the banking industry to the proprietary trading amendment – ultimately forced Senate leaders to find a compromise.

Under a deal reached Thursday night, neither the Levin-Merkley Amendment nor the Brownback Amendment saw votes by the full Senate. Instead, the Senate will vote Monday night on a procedural motion urging House and Senate members of a Conference Committee to consider exempting auto dealers when reconciling the difference between the House- and Senate-passed bills.

The vote on Monday night will not carry the weight of law, and it will not decide whether auto dealer financing will be subject to whatever new Bureau is created by financial reform. However, it will be an indicator of support in the Senate for a final bill that exempts auto dealers. And that could carry significant weight as House and Senate negotiators work to find a compromise in the coming months.