Senate Democrats had to make concessions, but today won the battle to approve more federal aid to California and other financially troubled states. Moderates Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, both from Maine, voted to break the Republican filibuster. Speaker Nancy Pelosi has called the House back from recess to vote on the measure. Governor Schwarzenegger’s office calls it “critical to preventing deeper pain and deeper job losses in California." Carolyn Lochhead reports from Washington for the San Francisco Chronicle.