No date for increasing the limit has yet been set.
The state had proposed increasing the limit to three times the poverty level, to about $62,000.
The majority has to take the hit for increasing the limit, while the minority gets a free ride.
But four Republicans, the other 47 Democrats and the one independent, oppose increasing the limit, and so far they have withstood all pressure to change their position.
The chairwoman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Sheila C. Bair, gave a ringing endorsement for the concept of increasing the limit on insured deposits to $250,000 from $100,000, at least temporarily.
The company is always reviewing its millions of accounts, normally increasing the limit on three out of four, and decreasing the fourth.
Even increasing the limit on just a few straighter, safer motorways, as officials hope to try, may be cavalier: after Denmark increased limits on a some key routes in 2004, average speeds rose on all highways.
Moreover, the possibility of increasing the limit of the stable configuration by stiffening the edges is investigated.
Some members of Congress disapprove of debt on principle and therefore always vote against increasing the limit.
GOP leaders have said they understand the urgency of increasing the limit, which authorizes the Treasury to take on more loans to pay its existing debts, but that they want to couple the vote with other measures.
