The governor and the Legislature must renew the law in March 2003.

The policy has become so sacrosanct that these days, the Legislature and Governor renew the law every few years without much fuss, despite the opposition of the city.

California has a $250,000 cap, which expires at year-end unless the Legislature renews it.

Rent-regulated tenants would not be affected; they would continue to pay their regulated rent, assuming the Legislature renews rent regulation laws this year.

The 12.5 percent surcharge, which Mr. Giuliani needs to balance his budget, will expire on Dec. 31 unless the Legislature renews it during its special session on Tuesday.

And back in Florida, the Legislature has had four special sessions this year and still hasn't renewed the parimutuel law, which expired on July 1, or decided who can race where and when.

He got the Legislature to renew a state Superfund law so that the state's most contaminated sites could be cleaned up.

The Legislature renewed the mandate in this year's budget.

Whether the 2004 primary will be starkly different is unclear, because the governor and the Legislature renew the rules every four years.

In Pennsylvania, the Legislature did not renew its certificate-of-need law in late 1996, allowing suburban and rural hospitals across the state to begin opening maternity wards and offering cardiac bypass surgery.