ALBANY – One local Democratic lawmaker called the proposals in Governor Spitzer’s State of the State address “bold, visionary and urgently needed” in upstate.

Republicans agree the Governor’s plan sounds good, for the most part. Some, however, are skeptical the state can afford it.

Spitzer says it will require tough decisions come budget time.

“We must make the hard choices necessary to live within our means – recognizing that every choice must help the people of New York invent a better future,” he said.

Notably for Upstate, Spitzer is calling for a $1 billion fund to go toward investing in businesses, infrastructure needs for shovel-ready sites and agribusiness.

The plan also calls for the formation of a bipartisan commission to come up with reccomendations aimed at reforming the root causes of why taxes are so high, making the tax relief system fairer for middle class taxpayers and putting a “fair” cap on school spending.

Town of Smyrna Supervisor Jim Bays (D) says the proposed $1 billion investment into upstate economies couldn’t be a better plan at a better time.