Brown says assurances from Reid sealed his Wall Street reform vote

Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) said Thursday that he flipped his vote on the financial regulatory overhaul because of assurances he received from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).

Brown on Wednesday voted against cloture to move to a final vote on the bill, saying that he had reservations with the flawed bill. The motion failed, which upset Reid.

But on Thursday, Brown said he received enough guarantees from Reid to feel confident about crossing the aisle.

“I supported moving the financial bill forward today because I 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," he said in a statement. "We are still working to ensure these commitments are fulfilled prior to a final vote."

Brown has expressed concerns that Massachusetts-based financial firms, such as MassMutual, could be adversely affected by a potential ban on proprietary trading.

Reid on Thursday worked to gain more support for the motion that failed Wednesday. Senators want to finish work on the bill this week, after which congressmen and senators will head to "conference" to merge the two pieces of legislation. 

Brown joined Maine Republican Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins in voting for cloture on the financial bill. Democratic Sens. Maria Cantwell (Wash.) and Russ Feingold (Wis.) voted with the other 38 Republicans against the motion.

President Barack Obama has said that the legislation that imposes sweeping reforms on the financial services sector is one of his top legislative priorities.

Brown said that "any final bill must address the concerns relating to the Volcker rule for both insurance companies and our safe custody banks located in Massachusetts and throughout the country – institutions that did not contribute to the financial crisis, but would be crippled by the current legislation and in turn would result in job losses."