ALBANY — Here’s an Albany surprise: Lobbying declined last year.

While even longtime Capitol denizen wouldn’t have notice a drop in the legions of lobbyists walking the halls during the recession, the state Public Integrity Commission reports today that lobbying expenditures actually fell in 2009 for only the second time in three decades.

Special interests spent $167.8 million to advance their agendas in Albany last year down $6.1 million or 3.5 percent. That’s the first drop since 2000, when a now-paltry-sounding $66 million was spent on lobbying.

Last year, the commission counted 5,887 registered lobbyists representing 3,499 clients and 52 public corporations.