Mr. Del Tufo's public criticism comes as the Legislature is again preparing to take up the state's 1982 capital punishment law.

The deal to provide more oversight of lobbying for state contracts came amid a flurry of activity as the Legislature prepared to end its session on Thursday.

That has left many legislators frustrated as the Legislature prepares to go home for the year.

The report was released as the Legislature prepared to debate Gov. Christine Todd Whitman's proposed $16 billion budget, which would begin July 1.

Now the Legislature is preparing to amend the law to allow countless medical offices and labs to "self-transport" without the personnel or documentation to handle and track the waste.

Instead of taking a hard look at loopholes in the program, they complain, the Legislature is preparing to vote on a series of measures that would widen them.

Meanwhile, as Mr. Cuomo and the Legislature prepared today to revive negotiations over the budget-in-progess, the major bond rating agencies gave mixed reviews to their performance so far.

The Legislature left town and prepared to return Sunday night.

The Legislature, for its part, is preparing to pass a bill that leaders in both houses say should clean up any technical or constitutional problems in the budget that they passed last week.

Just when everyone else is planning the menu for the Fourth of July picnic, the Legislature is preparing to get down to business.