NEW YORK, NY January 16, 2008 —Governor Spitzer used his first "state of upstate" address to announce a plan to lift the area's lagging economy. Speaking in Buffalo, Spitzer says he'll spend 350 million dollars on struggling communities, including cleaning up old industrial sites, and investing in agriculture and a science research center in Rochester. A native Manhattanite, Spitzer argued the whole state rises and falls together:

SPITZER: when part of our state is struggling it affects all of us because when a young family leaves the state everyone pays the price of that decline: higher taxes, increased health care costs, and a shrinking national voice in Washington.

REPORTER: The top Republican in the Assembly, James Tedisco, gave Spitzer some credit, calling his proposals a dramatic policy overhaul for upstate investment.