"We're in an emergency. We're in a crisis," Paterson just told Brian Lehrer on WNYC. "And one of the things that's disturbing me about a lot of people now is they acknowledge we're in a crisis in an academic sense, but then when you try to respond to a crisis, you start hearing regional and political interests. If a house is on fire, if the fireman goes to the east wing or the west wing first, as long as they're getting people out of the building and trying to save everybody."

Republican legislative leaders are calling for funds to be spent in accordance with longstanding formulas that guarantee balance among the state's regions.

"This is the latest in a long example of these people who do not understand that this state is teetering on the verge of insolvency if we don't get people to work and generating revenue in our economy," Paterson said.