The 2007 legislative session will likely most be remembered for the changes that Governor Spitzer brought to the process. He did not get all that he wanted accomplished, and indeed the legislature rebuked him in many ways, yet he definitely left his stamp on the legislature.

The first big issue of the year was the Comptroller appointment, done by a joint session of the legislature with no formal gubernatorial involvement. Spitzer chose to get involved and try to get his own men appointed, to which he was rebuked. Ultimately, the legislature appointed one of their own – DACC leader Assemblyman Tom DiNappoli.

Then there was the issue of the war that came home to Albany with the passage of Espilliat's resolution, eventually modified to encourage the President to sign the Iraq spending bill that would set up a time table for planned withdrawal from Iraq. While the President ignored the New York State Assembly, and ultimately vetoed this resolution, this sent home a message on a majority of New Yorkers belief on the war.

They passed a variety of laws that kept certain constituencies happy like Timothy's Law and Workers Compensation Reform. Spitzer proved to be the man to get reform, even when the previous governor had been unsuccessful. He also got the DNA base expanded to include all those convicted of a crime – even non-violent crimes like DWI.

There also was a repeat of several other laws, formally vetoed by Governor Pataki in hope that Spitzer would sign them into law again. This included a bill that would phase out a number of uses of creosote, increase benefits for certain types of workers, and ban mandatory overtime for hospital workers. Spitzer has already used his power to send back to the legislature those blue veto slips.

Spitzer did not do so well with his reform plans. The bottle bill was killed off despite his wishes to do elsewise. Campaign finance reform seems not to be going anywheres either, with the Senate varying between being opposed to it all together to saying they want to study it. Wetland protection also did not get done, again because of the Senate.

The Senate did stop many badly concieved laws. They fended off the Assembly's insistance on more gun control, after the terrible events down at Virgina Tech. The Senate also kept the burn barrel bill from passing, this year not even introducing the Assembly-version, and instead preferring a bill that exempted farm waste from such a ban – and letting that die in committee.

Our friends with quads had great hope that the legislature would pass a study bill that would use ATV Trail Fund fees to study the economic impact of ATVs on our state. This bill passed the Senate, unanimously, but died in the Assembly after passing out of Assemblyman Morelle's last committee meeting. More lucky was snowmobilers, which got their damage reporting threshold raised from $100 to the much more reasonable $1000 dollars.

Other second-string winners this year, was a bill that would require a report on all agricultural districts, a study on race track safety, an tax exemption for honey farmers, a dairy bulk hauling study, a law requiring state agencies to post FOIL info, and a solar energy investment tax credit. The later creates a 25% tax credit for all new solar equipment installed in New York, on top of all the other incentives to promote renewable energy.

None of those issues are key, but the Assembly certainly passed many other interesting things that have no chance in the Senate. They include Adopt-A-Park, Naturopathic Doctors, Electronics Ban form landfills, several bills promoting renewable energy, and Spitzer's gay marriage bill. There are many good ideas, but for now they will have to sit as one-house bills.

It was a good session, with many little bills passed along with some important reforms. People will be quick criticize the legislature for not getting enough done, despite the fact that they actually did quite a few many meaningful reforms and new laws, that will benefit all New Yorkers