By HENRY J. STERN

Normally one views a state legislative session in terms of what constructive legislation is passed. In better years, when the Three Men in a Room could agree, there were some accomplishments. In worse years, when the Three Men detested each other, very little got through the triple filter, and conditions stayed pretty much as they were. The historic record was bad enough to give New York State the reputation of having the most dysfunctional legislature in the country, according to the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU.

This year, the legislature has been substantially worse than in the past. In 2008, with two of the Three Men being rookies, the triumvirate is seriously out of balance. There are fewer restraints to the passage of special interest legislation supported by substantial contributors to the campaigns of incumbent elected officials. The reform initiatives appear to have disappeared with Governor Spitzer. They were offered to the legislature by Governor Paterson when the session was about to adjourn.

Special interest legislation generally enhances the privileges of a small, or a large, group at the expense of the general public, due process or the state treasury. Such laws are the result of pressure, generally accompanied by money, which comes from the army of lobbyists who line the corridors of the Capitol.

The situation is worsened by the fact that two of the Three Men have political problems and are more vulnerable this year than in the past. The new Republican leader, Dean Skelos of Nassau County, is comparable to Senator Bruno, without Bruno's wit and charm. He is desperately trying to hold on to his tiny 32-30 majority in the state senate in the face of what may, or may not, be a Democratic landslide.

Senator Skelos is desperate for labor's support, or indeed for anyone's support, in his effort to stem the tide of history and demographics. So he will pass bills which normally would die in the chamber which is supposed to be more fiscally responsible, and respectful of the powers of the state.

Speaker Sheldon Silver also has a problem - a primary for his own Assembly seat on the Lower East Side. His neighborhood is changing - the elderly Jews are dying off or moving to Florida, and his base in middle-income housing developments is being somewhat yuppified.

Silver is expected to defeat his primary rivals, especially if he has more than one. It takes work, however, in the heat of the summer, and money, which for him is ample.

Good politicians never neglect their base, whether it is their caucus or their district.

Governor Paterson, not up for election until 2010, is relatively free of immediate pressure from lobbyists. He can, if he wishes, stand up for the status quo. That used to be a bad thing, but when bills enacted by both houses would leave the state significantly worse off than it is today, the status quo becomes a preferred alternative to the vitiation of government.

One of the areas of concern is the legislative micro-management of clearly local issues that should be decided by a city whose population exceeds eight million.

The City has, over the years, set aside certain lanes of traffic for use by buses at particular hours. This designation is made to speed travel by the 40 or more people who may be riding a bus, rather than have the lanes blocked by automobiles carrying far fewer people (maybe one or two). The idea is eminently reasonable. In order to discourage car and taxi drivers from blocking bus lanes, the city wants to place enforcement cameras in front of buses to identify and ticket violators. This is like the cameras that have monitored busy intersections since 1993.

An unenforceable law is the equivalent of no law. You can't afford to have police standing on every corner arguing with drivers to whom they give tickets. If the summons is to be disputed, do it in court. To install the cameras, the law requires permission from the state. A slam dunk? Absolutely not.

The bill was killed in the Assembly Transportation Committee, whose chairman, David Gantt, is from Rochester. He had offered to allow cameras to be used in another situation, provided they had qualities obtainable only from a particular manufacturer.

The problem in Albany, however, goes far beyond any one individual, whether it is Silver, Paterson or Skelos, or any of their predecessors. It involves excessive state power and limited city authority. The majority of municipal laws or ordinances, except for statutes protecting city employees, can be superseded at any time by the Three Men in a Room. The fact that the city is so much more significant to the country and to the world than the rest of the state does not relieve in any way the bondage in which it is held by its governmental parent.

One need not advocate the impossible dream of secession to seek a relationship of mutual respect between the city and the state. A Constitutional Convention would be a sensible occasion to rework the strictures which denigrate home rule, a basic principle of municipal government.

Space has limited us to only one example today. Be assured there are many others, some of which have not yet come to light.

StarQuest@NYCivic.org