Gov. Eliot Spitzer may have made a lot of noise recently about his commitment to upstate New York. He delivered the first-ever “State of Upstate” speech, and has promised a $1 billion revitalization plan.

But with the way Albany operates, it could be a long time before such an effort gets going, and the results from it could take longer still. To truly demonstrate he cares about upstate and its business community, the governor could start by delivering on one of his campaign promises and start collecting sales tax from Indian-owned retail establishments.

We're now into a second year of this administration, and all signs indicate a continuation of the Gov. George Pataki approach to this issue, which is to do nothing.

A 2006 state law requires the state Tax Department to collect sales taxes on retail goods sold by Native Americans to non-Native Americans, but the Tax Department has yet to enforce the law.

That tact, of course, is a willful violation of laws that are on the books. It completely disregards the executive branch's duty to uphold those laws. And it spits in the eye of all the retailers who play by the rules.

When Spitzer campaigned for his job in 2006, he did not have kind words for the way Pataki had handled the situation.

Spitzer's actions (or lack of actions) since that time simply make him look like a hypocrite at this point.

We're please that state Sen. Michael Nozzolio again raised this issue last week. Spitzer is most likely hoping that in time, people will simply forget about this issue and he won't have to worry about it.

Upstate leaders - along with the business community - cannot allow that to happen.

Revenue that the state badly needs is at stake, along with a fair playing field for all of New York's businesses.