WASHINGTON -- The House yesterday passed the Senate's bill to overhaul federal bankruptcy law, which in six months should make it more difficult for thousands of Americans over their heads in debt to clean their slate.

	The new "means" test By The Associated Press    How the new "means" test for measuring a debtor's ability to repay would work under the bankruptcy overhaul legislation: People with insufficient assets or income as determined by the test could still file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which, if approved by the court, would erase debts entirely after certain assets are forfeited. People with income above their state's median income who can pay at least $6,000 over five years -- $100 a month -- would be forced into a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, where the court would order a repayment plan.    The U.S. average for median household income was $42,654 a year for 2001-02. State median incomes range from $29,752 in West Virginia and $30,761 in Mississippi to $53,791 in Connecticut and $55,525 in Alaska.    Under current law, a bankruptcy judge determines under which chapter of the bankruptcy code a person falls -- whether they have to repay some or all of their debt. On the Internet More information on Senate Bill 256

President Bush is expected to sign the bill, which easily passed both the House and Senate, although it swept both chambers into acrimonious debate.

The House vote was 302-126, with not a single Republican opposing the measure. Seventy-three Democrats and 229 Republicans supported the bill, while 125 Democrats and one independent voted no.

The Senate last month approved it, 74-25.

Supporters said the bill will prevent thousands of trivial bankruptcies that raise the cost of credit and goods and services for other Americans. They also said it would keep many millionaires from hiding assets in expensive homes because of a new three-year residency requirement. They contended, moreover, that it was time to change a law that had been the same for nearly three decades.

In essence, the bill sets up a new means test. If a family in financial trouble is above the median income for their region -- ranging from $45,867 in New Mexico to $82,561 in Massachusetts --they would be forced to file under Chapter 13 of the bankruptcy law, which means they would still be required to pay off their debts over a period of years based upon a court-ordered schedule.

A Chapter 7 bankruptcy -- which many families in financial trouble now seek because it generally wipes out most, if not all, debt -- would be greatly restricted under the new law.

The measure also would require families to pay for six months of credit counseling before filing for bankruptcy. Democrats complained that some credit-counseling centers are little more than costly scams that put families further in debt.

Some Democrats argued that the measure would preclude a chance to start over for many middle-class families in debt because of medical bills, divorce or job loss. They also charged that the bill didn't help National Guard and other service members who might lose their homes while serving in Iraq. They also asserted that the legislation makes bankruptcy more difficult for financially troubled single parents who must rely on child support.

Critics said the bill didn't do enough to prevent millionaires who file for bankruptcy from safeguarding their assets by buying mansions in certain states, such as Texas and Florida, that permit those in bankruptcy to keep their homes.

Democrats were barred from amending the bill to try to protect consumers from being left in financial peril by identity fraud, in which their Social Security number or other vital data is stolen. Some Democrats also wanted a provision to preclude credit-card companies from marketing cards to college students, who may be unable to pay off debt they incur through youthful indiscretion.

Because Republicans wanted a "clean bill" that would move quickly to the White House for Bush's signature, they prevailed in setting rules that kept the measure from being changed. Thus, a delaying conference with the Senate will be unnecessary. But many Democrats loudly complained yesterday that democracy had broken down because no amendments were permitted and because debate was sharply limited.

Bankruptcy courts are braced for an expected deluge of bankruptcy filings over the next six months, as petitioners try to beat the effective date of the new law.

A letter to Congress written by 104 bankruptcy law professors before the Senate vote said states such as Ohio, Indiana, Mississippi, Idaho, Utah, Tennessee, Georgia, Nevada and Alabama and Arkansas would feel the greatest impact from the new law.

At times, yesterday's House debate was heated. Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., said: "This is a morally bankrupt bill that takes 'kick 'em when they're down' to a whole new level. This is a big-time corporate payoff, drafted with one goal in mind: profit, profit, profit."

The major lobbyists for the legislation were the credit-card and retail industries, which are frustrated when money owed them is erased by bankruptcy filings.

Rep. John Conyers of Michigan, the House Judiciary Committee's ranking Democrat, said: "This is the most special-interest-invested bill I have ever dealt with in my career in Congress. It massively tilts the field for credit-card companies and banks and against working families.

"We should all be truly embarrassed about this," Conyers said. "This bill is opposed by every consumer group, all of organized labor, by civil rights groups, by bar associations, by bankruptcy judges."

But House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., dismissed Conyers' plaint and said the bill would make credit cheaper and force Americans to be more responsible in handling credit. "This bill will help restore responsibility and integrity to the bankruptcy system," he said, "by cracking down on fraudulent, abusive and opportunistic bankruptcy claims."

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said the congressional approval sent "a dangerous signal to working families that Congress will systematically gut protections for workers who have lost jobs or face crushing medical bills."

The Christian Coalition of America praised the House for not limiting the bankruptcy option for abortion protesters who are trying to avoid court fines for violating the law governing how they picket abortion clinics.