The Senate Banking Committee today approved legislation that would revamp the Federal Housing Administration’s mortgage insurance program in a more limited fashion than the bill passed by the House on Tuesday, CongressDaily reported yesterday. The panel voted 20-1 to send the bill to the Senate floor with only Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.) dissenting. The measure would increase FHA loan limits, currently at $362,000, to levels similar to government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which currently are at $417,000. The House bill would raise them even more to 125 percent of an area’s median home price and give the HUD secretary the discretion to bump up that level by $100,000 during periods of crisis in the home-mortgage market. The Senate measure also would lower the down payment requirement to 1.5 percent from the current 3 percent. The House bill would allow no down payment in some cases. Both bills would lift the cap on FHA reverse mortgages for elderly homeowners, though the House bill would siphon the profits from the change to finance a new affordable housing trust fund.