Politics on the Hudson

Next week could see some big wins for Gov. Eliot Spitzer.    One official said that a deal for Citicorp to locate a “significant’’ number of back-office jobs in Buffalo “is almost nailed down.’’ It would be presented as what could be the first payoff of his strategy of trying to revive the upstate economy.

   The other piece of potentially good news invoolves workers’ compensation, the state’s expensive but low-benefit program that pays the medical costs and part of the lost wages of workers hurt on the job.

    All of the parties – Spitzer’s office, the Assembly, Senate, AFL-CIO and business groups – met this week, with a Spitzer aide presenting a proposal. Spitzer’s aides plan to meet the the individuals involved over the next few days. If things go well, a deal could be announced as early as Tuesday.

    Workers’ compensation costs in New York, among the highest in the country, is a major factor driving down the upstate economy, business leaders say. Efforts to reform it have gone nowhere for the past few years.