ALBANY (AP) -- Gov. David Paterson says the state now faces a deeper, $10 billion deficit over the next two years.

The Democrat is opening a meeting with legislative leaders by saying that's up from the $6.7 billion, which was the last official count, set in July.

He warns against relying on encouraging economic news nationally to avoid painful cuts in spending.

Paterson says there's an urgent need for the midyear spending cuts he has proposed for schools, public universities, hospitals and nursing homes or some other plan. But lawmakers are still holding public hearings and they're reluctant to propose any cuts of their own.

The meeting lasted less than 45 minutes without agreements on spending cuts.

Paterson has called for an extraordinary session of the Legislature on Nov. 10 to address the deficit.

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