The New York Times

WASHINGTON — The House Financial Services Committee on Thursday pushed forward with an aggressive effort to help troubled homeowners, approving a package of legislation that would make up to $300 billion in federally insured loans available to refinance the mortgages of borrowers in danger of foreclosure.

With passage of the bill virtually assured in the House, the debate over how best to address the downturn in housing now shifts back to the Senate where Democrats drafting a similar plan must overcome the reservations, if not outright opposition, of a more robust Republican minority.

President Bush has called on Congress to pass very specific legislation to update the operations of the Federal Housing Administration; to tighten regulation of the government-sponsored lending companies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; and to let state and local housing authorities use tax exempt bonds to refinance bad loans.

But Mr. Bush opposes the more expansive legislation pursued by Democrats.

The Financial Services Committee approved the bill by a vote of 46 to 21, with 10 Republicans joining the Democrats in favor of it.

Representative Barney Frank, Democrat of Massachusetts and the chief author of the housing legislation, said on Thursday that he hoped the bill would ultimately reach the White House as part of a wider package that Mr. Bush would sign if it also contains the legislation that he has demanded.

The Democrats’ legislation seeks to help homeowners by requiring lenders to reduce the principal balances for borrowers at risk of default. The bad loans, typically with high adjustable rates, would then be refinanced into more affordable 30-year fixed-rate loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration.

The new loans would be limited to no more than 90 percent of the current value of a property, based on an updated appraisal. In addition, the government would retain a stake in any future sale of the property, worth 3 percent of the initial loan balance or 50 percent of the net profit from a sale, whichever is greater.

Borrowers would have to demonstrate the ability to pay the new loan, and if they default, would forfeit the property. Democrats say the plan could help as many as 1.5 million homeowners.

The Bush administration calls that goal unrealistic and achieving it would require loosening underwriting rules that would put taxpayer money at too much risk. But the administration’s own effort to help troubled borrowers, called FHA Secure, has so far aided only about 2,000 homeowners who were clearly behind in paying their loans.

In an interview, Mr. Frank said that Republicans, including the president, understood that the government-sponsored lenders were playing an increasingly vital role in the stability of the economy and that they were now anxious to tighten regulation.

“Don’t underestimate the importance” of changes affected Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, he said.

As for the Senate, Mr. Frank said: “I am not going to guess.”

Senator Christopher J. Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut and chairman of the banking committee, is hoping to finalize a bill next week that would incorporate the broad expansion of federally insured loans sought by Democrats with a Senate version of the legislation sought by the Bush administration.

In a statement on Thursday, Mr. Dodd said he hoped of reaching a deal, even as some Senate Republicans said they remained uncertain.

“Our top priority right now should be helping people keep their homes,” Mr. Dodd said, praising the Financial Services Committee vote. “This is another step in the right direction.”

He added: “I am committed to working on bipartisan legislation with my colleagues in the Senate banking committee to reduce foreclosures and restore liquidity to the mortgage market.”

A spokesman for Senator Richard C. Shelby of Alabama, the senior Republican on the banking committee, declined to comment.

Republican support for the Democrats’ plan has waned in recent days. Senator Mel Martinez, Republican of Florida and a member of the banking committee, who had previously advocated aggressive government action to stem foreclosures, this week said that he supported the more measured response favored by President Bush. Florida is one of the state’s being hit hardest by foreclosures.