ALBANY – The last time Governor Pataki grumbled about a legislative budget “spending too much and reforming too little,” he wielded his pen and vetoed hundreds of millions of dollars in spending.

That was two years ago. Now, as a lame duck executive with months left in office, Mr. Pataki is making similar complaints about the 2006-07 budget, which the Legislature is expected to pass on Friday. This time, the reaction from lawmakers has been a collective yawn.

With both the Senate and the Assembly appearing to be united around their on-time and record-large budget agreement and with the governor short on bargaining chips, Mr. Pataki’s leverage is limited, fiscal observers and lawmakers say.

Mr. Pataki said yesterday that he would be demanding from lawmakers “significant changes to have a budget that is acceptable to me.” His budget director, John Cape, is also accusing the Legislature of underestimating the cost of its budget by more than $2 billion.

Despite the governor’s concerns, it is unlikely that Mr. Pataki, during his allotted 10 days to review the budget before it becomes law, will be able to scale back the Legislature’s new spending increases, which total at least $1.8 billion, or reduce the debt that was added on, which is estimated to be $3.7 billion over five years and is mostly for CUNY, SUNY, and public school construction projects.

“I don’t see any real issue that the governor can hold as a ransom or prize to get what he needs,” state Senator Martin Golden, a Republican of Brooklyn, said. “I think he’s sort of boxed.”

The governor’s weak bargaining position doesn’t necessarily mean that the Legislature’s budget won’t be touched or that he will come away empty-handed. Senate Republicans are showing signs of being flexible on two key education provisions in the governor’s executive budget – a lift in the cap on charter schools and the creation of a tuition tax credit – that lawmakers from both chambers have thus far resisted.

Senate Republicans indicated yesterday that they would negotiate a deal with the governor to increase the number of the charter schools in New York City by 50 and in the rest of the state by 100.The issue of charter schools “is not dead at all,” the Republican majority leader of the Senate, Joseph Bruno, said. “We are very open and want to make something happen.”

Mr. Bruno said the Senate had “concerns” about the tax money that public school districts lose when students transfer to charter schools. The Senate, in its talks with the governor, will probably demand transitional aid to school districts that have a higher percentage of students enrolled in charter schools. The Senate may also demand that school districts be given the power to approve any new charter schools. Such a provision could prevent the establishment of such independent schools outside New York City, where they are supported by Mayor Bloomberg.

Republican senators said they are not ruling out changes to a child tax credit program in the Legislature’s budget. Mr. Pataki in his January executive budget proposed giving low-income parents in struggling school districts a maximum $500 tax credit to help them pay for educational expenses, like private school tuition and tutoring. Under pressure from the public school teachers unions, lawmakers changed the governor’s plan by making it statewide, by reducing the size of the credit, and by not restricting how the money is spent. Yesterday, Republicans said they would consider amending the Legislature’s plan by targeting the tax credit to educational expenses but not necessarily to tuition. Untouchable, lawmakers say, are the main planks of the Legislature’s $112.4 billion budget: more than $800 million in property tax rebate checks, public school operating aid increases of $1.1 billion, and an $11.2 billion, five-year capital plan for school construction in New York City.

“There is no question we override vetoes that do any kind of damage to” those budget items, state Senator Frank Padavan, a Republican who represents a district in Queens, said.

The governor’s largest bargaining chip is his control over federal revenue sources, such as an environmental protection fund and a welfare fund, that total more than $1 billion. The legislature wants to spend the money on its own terms but can’t do so without permission from the governor. It’s unclear how much lawmakers would be willing to give up to gain control over that money.

Both houses are also likely to hold firm on their rejection of Medicaid cuts proposed by Mr. Pataki, including the governor’s attempt to save the state $72 million a year by eliminating the so-called “trend factor” for nursing homes. The governor’s proposed tax cuts, such as a reduction to the top personal income tax rate and the elimination of the corporate alternative minimum tax, will probably be left on the budget cutting room floor.