While many expect Governor Pataki to fade away during his last 100 days in office, his administration is quietly gearing up for one last round of negotiations with state lawmakers, who are expected to return to Albany for a special session in late November or early December.

With Mr. Pataki shuttling to Iowa and piecing together the infrastructure of his expected presidential campaign and legislators immersed in their reelection efforts, the halls of the state Capitol have been empty of late.

While many in the Legislature anticipate that Albany won’t break out of its holding pattern until the next governor takes over January 1, some also see a convergence of an array of unresolved issues that could result in some 11thhour political drama.

“Clearly there are priorities that haven’t been addressed in the legislative session,” a spokesman for the governor, David Catalfamo, said.

Here’s a sampling of what is likely to be on the table in these last 100 days:

• Hospital closures: Mr. Pataki’s health care commission, which is led by a former executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Stephen Berger, will soon deliver to the governor’s desk its recommendations for overhauling the state health care industry. The commission’s most controversial task will be advising the governor on the fate of many of the city’s money-losing hospitals.

If Mr. Pataki approves the commission’s report, the proposals become law unless the Legislature acts to strike them down. How the battle over the commission’s recommendations plays out could determine whether the state is granted a federal Medicaid waiver worth $1.5 billion.

• Legislative pay raises: Eight years ago, Mr. Pataki and lawmakers agreed to boost the governor’s salary to $179,000 and legislators’ salaries to $79,500, not including stipends for leadership positions. Pay raises would be the governor’s most important bargaining chip in a special session. If lawmakers don’t get Mr. Pataki’s approval for one, that window is closed until at least 2009. Adding to the pressure is the fact that Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, the front-runner in the governor’s race, has said he’s against giving lawmakers more money for what is supposed to be a part-time job.

• Charter schools: When they got their pay raises in 1998, lawmakers in return gave Mr. Pataki their blessing for a charter school bill that allowed for the creation of 100 of the experimental schools, which receive public funding but are generally nonunion and are independent of local school boards.The state has since used up all of the charters, leading Mr. Pataki to propose raising the statewide cap on the schools to 250. Lawmakers blocked his efforts, setting the stage for a replay of the charter for pay raise deal that was struck in 1998.

Mr. Spitzer has said he supports the creation of more charter schools, but proponents of the schools say they are not counting on Mr. Spitzer to go up against the state teachers union, which is opposed to the schools.”If that gets shot down, I don’t know when it gets done,” a state senator of Brooklyn, Martin Golden, told The New York Sun.

• Racing franchise: A state committee appointed by the governor and legislative leaders is poised to recommend a winning bidder to run racing at Aqueduct Racetrack, Belmont Park, and Saratoga Race Course, which handle billions of dollars of wagers.

The committee has accepted bids from four entities: The New York Racing Association, which has held the franchise since 1955 and has been accused of mismanagement; Capital Play Pty. Ltd., an Australian wager services company; Empire Racing Associates, which is composed of New York horsemen and national racing leaders like Churchill Downs, and Excelsior Racing Associates, which is led by New York Yankees partner Steve Swindal and casino developer Richard Fields.

Mr. Pataki has said he wants the Legislature to approve the new franchise before he leaves office, but many predict lawmakers will hold off until next year.The awarding of a franchise, however, could be a potentially explosive issue for next year’s governor. Any decision by Mr. Spitzer, who has attracted criticism for accepting discounted rides on a private jet owned by Mr. Fields, will be heavily scrutinized.

• Appointments: The Republican-led Senate will also likely vote on the last batch of Pataki appointments. Up in the air is whether a CUNY trustee who has served since 1999, Jeffrey Wiesenfeld, will be reappointed to the board. Mr. Wiesenfeld has been one of the most visible cheerleaders of CUNY’s move toward stricter academic standards.

• Early retirement bill: In July, Mr. Pataki vetoed legislation that would have allowed state and city civilian employees 55 and older and with at least 25 years of service to retire without pension penalties and receive an annual pension equal to half of their maximum salaries. As the law stands, employees need at least 30 years of service to retire with full benefits.

Mr. Pataki said the bill was too costly and broad, but lawmakers, who are unlikely to risk the public criticism by overriding the governor, are open to compromise, according to Albany insiders.

• “Timothy’s law”: Named after a 12-year-old Rotterdam resident who suffered from depression and committed suicide, the law would force insurers to cover mental illnesses. It could be a flashpoint in negotiations between the governor and the Legislature, which passed it over the summer.

• Development projects: Mr. Pataki is also looking to break ground on Moynihan Station, the $900 million project to turn the Farley Post Office building into a major transit hub, and on the expansion of the Javits Convention Center. He also would like to complete the financing of the ground zero memorial. Increasingly, however, lawmakers have been signaling that they intend to stall the Moynihan project until the next governor assumes office.

For now, the conventional wisdom among members of the Assembly and the Senate is that negotiations will be limited. Said an assemblyman of Queens, Michael Gianaris: “Those of us in the Assembly are looking forward to a new governor who will be in much greater agreement with us on these issues.”