Not really, but close enough.

His “State of Upstate” speech is reprinted here in its entirety.

It starts out beautifully:

The vision I will outline today is one we all share: to make Upstate New York the best place in the world to live, work, raise a family and run a business.

We all know it’s that last bit that’s difficult upstate.

You may recall last year Oswego County got battered by a storm that dumped 10 feet of snow. Spitzer remarked on the kindness, helpfulness, and neighborliness that he experienced there after that storm. He likens upstate’s economic woes to that storm, and argues that, if we

put that same strength, that same resiliency, and that same community-mindedness to work-if we summon the will to work together to achieve the reforms and make the investments I will lay out today-we can overcome this storm and return growth and prosperity to Upstate New York.

Spitzer argues that he laid a foundation for upstate’s rejuvenation last year through:

First, broad-based reforms to make Upstate more competitive by lowering the cost of doing business and lowering taxes;

Second, breaking gridlock on regionally- and locally-specific projects to build the infrastructure for economic growth;

Third, retooling State government so it is built to zero in on Upstate’s unique economic challenges; and,

Fourth, changing the way we approach economic development by incorporating local and regional stakeholders into everything we do.

He touts the work that the Empire State Development Corporation, and its upstate chair Dan Gundersen, have accomplished throughout upstate, adding:

Everywhere Dan stopped, he sat down for an audience with the best economic development consultants of all: local business leaders, who know their economies best, but whose views were rarely engaged in the past.

Of everything we did last year, I believe this was the most important.

Why? Because government money and government programs alone cannot turn our economy around. There must be a true partnership between government and the private sector. That’s because, in the end, it’s the people on the ground who must translate this funding and these programs into economic growth.

In the next breath, however, Spitzer proposes helping upstate through what he calls the “$1 Billion Upstate Revitalization Fund.”

Let’s break that down:

$350 million Regional Blueprint Fund

This money is to be used to make infrastructure improvements that will help improve and expand available land for development throughout upstate New York. He says that the 2003 brownfields cleanup program is failing, and is being used to subsidize the cleanup of land that was going to be developed anyway. It will also be used to fund a business loan program for small upstate businesses.

There will also be, as part of the blueprint, a $10 million venture capital fund to enable good ideas coming out of our universities to be turned into profitable business. The program will target 10 to 15 firms upstate that have the potential to become major employers.

Finally, the fund will help market border regions to Canada to help spur additional international investment in upstate, especially given the current exchange rate.

City by City Projects

$50 million will be spent to build a Clinical and Translational Science Institute at the University of Rochester.

Housing Opportunity Fund

Some communities need new affordable housing. Most Upstate communities, however, need funding for housing rehabilitation.

This $100 million fund will go to projects similar to the Artspace lofts on Main Street in Buffalo.

Upstate Agribusiness Fund

$50 million to help improve access to markets, expansion of food processing centers, and development of alternative fuels. There will be a state Director of Agriculture Development. Construction of the “Pride of New York Wholesale Farmers’ Market” in the Bronx will provide upstate growers with a dedicated place to connect with downstate buyers.

Universal Broadband

$15 million to expand broadband in rural areas and to the poor in urban centers.

Transportation

$100 million to improve state infrastructure.

Parks

$80 million to rehabilitate our somewhat dilapidated state parks, including $5.5 million for Niagara Falls State Park alone.

After outlining one thousand million dollars in spending to help upstate grow, Spitzer acknowledges that the state must “continue our efforts to address New York’s “perfect storm of unaffordability.” He proposes lowering taxes and energy costs - the two biggest bugaboos.

He pledges not only no “new” taxes, but to reduce existing taxes, particularly property taxes. The Commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness that Spitzer started last year has come up with about 150 recommendations to reduce spending, and these flowed upstream, rather than being imposed as an Albany diktat.

I will create a bipartisan commission, with Moreland Act powers, to examine the root causes of high property taxes; identify ways to make our relief system fairer; and develop a fair and effective school property tax cap to hold the line on property taxes once and for all-a mechanism that will not only relieve the burden on our working families, but on businesses as well.

More low-cost energy will be made available to large employers, there will be an increased emphasis on results from Pre-K to 12th grade. UB’s “2020″ plan will help re-connect that college to Buffalo’s core. UB’s expansion downtown will inject an additional $1 billion per year into the local economy.

This article in Newsday makes the argument that Spitzer’s focus on upstate is misguided and pits the state against itself.

Spitzer responds:

Now, ever since we announced we were doing this speech, some people have said to us: “You always talk about how we are One New York: one state, with one future. Doesn’t a speech focusing only on one part of the State run counter to the very idea of One New York?”

It’s a fair question. But the answer should be clear.

We are not giving this speech in spite of the fact that we’re one state with one future.

We’re giving this speech-and we’ve put the concerns of Upstate front and center on the agenda-precisely because we are one state with one future.

We are One New York, and we rise and fall together. When part of our State is struggling, it affects all of us. Because when a young family leaves the State, everyone has to pay for the cost of decline-the higher taxes, increased health care costs and shrinking national voice in Washington.

The truth is that we will never grow again; we will never prosper again; we will never become a beacon of hope and opportunity again if part of our state is thriving and another part is falling behind. So we must come together and channel all of the passion, energy and determination that is within us toward one goal: restoring growth and prosperity to Upstate New York.

We need only look to our own history for an example of success in a similar endeavor.

It was just a few short decades ago-in the late 1970s-when New York City was in crisis. Its social fabric was torn; its economy was in trouble; it was all but bankrupt; and it was desperate for help.

Yet when the people of New York City asked for help, the people of Upstate did not look the other way. Rather, you said to the people of New York City: “Your struggles are our struggles. Your future is our future. When there’s a storm, everyone pitches in to help. So tell us what we can do.” And working together, we did what many thought was impossible; we brought New York City back to life.

Much of what Spitzer proposes - particularly the investment in items that will provide a long-term reward - is needed upstate. Incubators and other means to help turn ideas developed at our universities into profitable industries are key, combined with a solid transportation infrastructure.

On the agricultural front, just as efforts were made recently to help develop the wine industry in the Finger Lakes, an effort to brand agricultural products from upstate would make some sense. You think about Wisconsin Cheese and Washington Apples, what about New York _____ ?

I’d like to see much more aggressive action taken to reduce the cost of doing business, energy, and taxation in this state, but at least Spitzer is making mouth-noises about it, and the property tax reduction plan sounds promising.

2007 was disappointing, but I remain hopeful for 2008.

Photo courtesy of Jennimi via Flickr.

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