The legislation extends Ex-Im’s authorization through Sept. 30, 2014, and increases its lending authority limit in stages, to $140 billion in 2014 from $100 billion now. But the measure also states that to achieve the $140-billion level, the bank must keep its default rate below 2%; it now is about 1.5%, said Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), a strong supporter of the bill.

Ex-Im Chairman Fred Hochberg said that the newly passed legislation “will allow the bank to continue financing U.S. exports to meet foreign competition and fill the void when commercial funding is unavailable.”

Hochberg added that, last year, the bank’s authorizations totaled $32.7 billion, which supported $40 billion in U.S. export sales.

The Ex-Im reauthorization had run into opposition from conservative groups. For example, the Club for Growth called the bank’s aid “nothing more than market-distorting subsidies that pick winners and losers in the private sector.”

But a May 4 bipartisan agreement in the House made changes from an earlier version, including trimming the bill to three years instead of four, phasing in the increase in the financial-exposure ceiling, and adding provisions requiring more oversight of Ex-Im and greater transparency in the bank's activities.

Another factor in the bill's passage was that business groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers pushed for it.