At this point, it’s a safe bet that very little – if anything at all – will be accomplished at tomorrow’s lame duck legislative session, which was intended to serve as a sort of last hurrah for outgoing Gov. David Paterson.

Paterson’s secretary, Larry Schwartz, and NYC OTB President Greg Rayburn held a conference call earlier today to reiterate that the cash-strapped betting operation will shut down if the Legislature doesn’t approve its restructuring plan, costing thousands of jobs and leaving the state on the hook for $540 million worth of pension liabilities and $100 million in outstanding bankruptcy claims.

Rayburn and Schwartz said pinks slips would start going out as early as Tuesday if lawmakers don’t act. Schwartz insisted this is a “very serious issue” and not a political issue, adding: “This is not a threat, this is reality.”

“We’re not trying to intimidate…it’s just a legal and financial fact of life that if we don’t get this relief the corporation will have no choice but to shut down,” Schwartz said.

Rayburn has said OTB will run out cash very quickly – some time in December – if lawmakers don’t approve the restructuring plan that has been agreed to by most, albeit not all, of the stakeholders (unions, creditors, etc., although the horsemen, in particular, aren’t thrilled).

But lawmakers seem unmoved by the specter of an OTB shutdown, because, as one Republican told me: “We’ve heard this one before.”

The biggest obstacle standing between Paterson and his lame duck session agenda is the Senate, where the balance of power remains undetermined as three races have yet to be decided.

Both the GOP and the Democrats confirmed they won’t have a full complement of members (each side will be missing at least two), which means nothing can get done unless there’s bipartisan agreement. Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson issued a call for cooperation last week, but it’s unclear if the Republicans will heed the call.

Senate Democratic spokesman Austin Shafran reiterated that call when I spoke to him today, telling me: “Without cooperation from the Senate Republicans, it appears very unlikely the agenda will be accomplished.”

It seems like the two sides might be able to agree on $315 million worth of mid-year budget cuts, since everyone has been running around talking about how dire the fiscal outlook is for 2011 and how much they want to help ease the burden for the incoming governor, Andrew Cuomo.

But Paterson has yet to submit any specific bill language on cuts to the Legislature, and so it’s hard to say what lawmakers might be willing to do.

The DN’s Ken Lovett reported earlier today that the governor might dramatically scale back the number of last-minute appointments he’s seeking to have the Senate approve, since the Democrats are singularly uninterested in helping him out.

Both the Senate Republicans and the Assembly Democrats are scheduled to hold reorganizational conferences while they’re in Albany, at which the issue of leadership will be discussed (a formal vote won’t be taken until the 2011 session starts in January).

In keeping with tradition, the Assembly majority’s senior member, Richard Gottfried, issued a letter inviting his returning colleagues and freshmen to a conference meeting at which a candidate for speaker will be put forth. This will take place at 6 p.m. tomorrow night. (Session is at 3 p.m., and if nothing gets done, it won’t take very long).

In spite of some speculation to the contrary, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver isn’t in any danger, according to Democrats loyal to him. Ditto for Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos, who is not expected to face any opposition when his members gather tomorrow for a pre-session conference at 1 p.m.

The Senate Democrats are so far not scheduled to address the leadership question while they’re in town. There has been ample speculation that Sampson might be in trouble – particularly if he loses the majority, which appears increasingly likely. But so far, no one has stepped up to formally challenge him.

The Assembly Republicans already held their leadership vote, and Minority Leader Brian Kolb was unanimously elected to his first full two-year term.

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