Just two weeks ago the Senate seemed unable to begin debate on financial reform legislation. Then last week, in a sudden burst of bipartisanship, the bill reached the floor.

Now that compromise and debate are underway, the odds are better that a strong bill protecting consumers and the economy will soon emerge.

There is no way to know exactly where the process will take us. Already, Democrats have given up on a $50 billion fund to cover the costs if it becomes necessary to shut down a major bank. And Republicans failed to water down the powers of a proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency. But last week Sen. Olympia Snowe succeeded with two amendments, persuading colleagues to adopt provisions favoring small banks and small business.

Snowe had criticized a regulation requiring banks to make detailed reports of consumer deposits to the consumer protection agency. Her amendment, intended to protect consumer information and reduce the regulatory burden on banks, was approved. She also successfully sought to preserve the ability of small businesses to obtain financing through home mortgage loans.

Sen. Susan Collins, critical of the continuing bailout of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, has cosponsored an amendment aimed at transforming the government-supported firms into entirely private companies within two years. Without government action, she said, taxpayers could be on the hook for “a perpetual government bailout.”

It’s hard to find defenders of Fannie and Freddie these days. Taxpayers have spent $136 billion on the pair so far, and each has applied for billions more. The companies ”“ and U.S. taxpayers ”“ continue to pay a high price for acquiring risky loans and low-grade, mortgage-based derivatives.

But the firms today are an essential support for the housing industry, providing the lion’s share of funds for mortgages. “We are in the business of buying loans,” a Freddie spokesman told the New York Times last week, “and we are one of the few sources of liquidity available.”

Though the firms should be prime targets for reform, the risks of setting a two-year timetable for weaning them from public support seem daunting.

The end of debate on such issues is not in sight. Democrats, in a hurry to get a financial reform bill enacted, are hoping to pick up the pace of reform and Majority Leader Harry Reid scolded Republicans this week for slowing things down. But it’s not unreasonable to move ahead cautiously. Up to a point, compromises and delays are a reasonable price to pay for bipartisanship.