Lawmakers returning to Albany in January are expected to focus on financial matters such as how to spend New York’s $5 billion bank settlements windfall.

The Assembly remains controlled by downstate Democrats, while the Senate is more firmly in the hands of upstate and Long Island Republicans.

That portends ongoing stalemates on social issues such as abortion rights, college tuition aid for students in the U.S. illegally, campaign finance reform and boosting the minimum wage further.

Instead, legislative leaders and the governor are talking about using the $5 billion from bank settlements for such items as bridges, roads, sewers and other infrastructure.

Their chief job is the 2015 budget, with perpetual pressure to increase school aid, but they also face looming issues such as heightened tensions between police and minorities.

(AP)