ALBANY — As the state Legislature convenes for a second special economic session, Upstate New Yorkers are adamant in their desire for spending cuts rather than tax increases.

In a survey released Monday, the Siena Research Institute reported 84 percent of upstaters want lawmakers to cut state spending, while 6 percent favor a tax increase and 5 percent want Albany to borrow more money.

"Voters are loud and clear about opposing tax increases to close the state budget gap. Read our lips, 'no new taxes,' is the message to the governor and Legislature," said Steven Greenberg, SRI spokesman, in a press release.

But like other New Yorkers, upstate residents don't want cuts in education or health care spending, which combined comprise roughly half of the state's annual budget. When presented with four choices of what to cut, 45 percent of upstaters picked "something else" over aid to local governments (25 percent), transportation and infrastructure (16 percent), education (7 percent) and health care (5 percent).

Gov. David A. Paterson enjoys a favorable rating among 64 percent of upstaters, while 20 percent view him unfavorably. Forty-five percent of upstaters said he is doing a "good" job as governor, while 32 percent give him a "fair" rating and 12 percent said "excellent."

Although Gov. Paterson has repeatedly said he will not raise taxes, three-quarters of upstaters do not believe he will be able to maintain that position. In the event of a tax hike, 56 percent of upstaters prefer raising corporate income taxes, while 32 percent said a sales tax increase would be best and only 7 percent favor raising personal income taxes.

"When it comes to the issue of what to cut, voters don't have a lot of good advice for the governor and lawmakers," Mr. Greenberg said. "It's clear, however, that they don't want cuts in the two largest areas of the state budget — education and health care."

Two weeks ago, Democrats appeared to win control of the state Senate by a 32-30 margin. But three New York City Democrats have thus far refused to support Sen. Malcolm A. Smith, D-Queens, as their leader, throwing the Senate Democratic conference into disarray. Upstaters are evenly split at 45 percent on the question of which party should control the Senate — Democrats or Republicans.

More than half of upstaters, 54 percent, said New York state is "headed in the wrong direction," while 51 percent feel the same way about the U.S. as a whole.

The poll was conducted Nov. 10-13 via phone calls to 626 registered voters throughout the state, and has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3.9 percentage points. Complete results of the survey are available online at: www.siena.edu/sri/sny.