Legislature Leaders Discuss Upstate BUFFALO (wned) - The heads of the State Senate and the State Assembly were in Buffalo Wednesday to talk about the upstate economy.

Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver spoke to members of the Business Council of New York during the group's meeting at the Adam's Mark Hotel.

Skelos, a Republican, is proposing a plan to create more jobs by cutting taxes on small business. He also wants to offer companies tax credits for creating new jobs.

Skelos also wants to expand eligibility for the state's Health New York insurance program to help small businesses reduce health care costs.

Skelos also called for reform of the Empire Zone program to improve accountability.

Silver, meanwhile, told business leaders that the failures on Wall Street will ripple through the state, making it harder to fund some programs.

Silver says next year's budget is going to be especially difficult and the state will have to re-evaluate revenue predictions for the coming year.

The state gets about 20 percent of its revenues from Wall Street.

Silver says despite the turmoil, Legislative leaders remain commited to improving the upstate economy. © Copyright 2009, wned