Gov. Dannel P. Malloy recently unveiled his plan for boosting urban employment. There was much to like. The problem is how to pay for it.

State voters are still waiting to hear Republican Tom Foley's urban agenda.

The incumbent Democrat wants to launch a ConnectiCorps program, based on the federal AmeriCorps program. It would dedicate $15 million over the next two years to hire about 1,500 urban unemployed to work for private-nonprofit community groups, on infrastructure construction and on public service projects. To get a second job a person often needs a performance record from a first job, and for many chronically unemployed in Connecticut cities, gaining entry to the job market has proved to be a difficult barrier, a situation the proposed ConnectiCorps program would seek to address.

In a related initiative, $10 million would be spent on job training in urban centers, focusing on developing work skills for some of the most difficult to employ - including the disabled and former inmates of the state's correctional system.

The governor also proposes, if re-elected, to guarantee up to $20 million in economic and community development loans for minority-owned contractors to work on public projects in New London, New Haven, Hartford and Bridgeport.

He would continue the Small Business Express Program to provide another $100 million in grants and/or low-interest loans to help small businesses expand, this time with a special focus on businesses owned by women and minorities. The state expended about $150 million to help small businesses under the first phase of the program.

Finally, the governor wants to boost state tax credits for small businesses that add jobs, about $20 million worth of credits over the next two years, with a focus on creating jobs for urban residents, veterans and the disabled.

To provide the tax credits, Gov. Malloy, if re-elected, would have to suggest cuts elsewhere in the budget or raise taxes, something he has pledged not to do. Reviving Connecticut's urban centers is such a high priority that whoever is governor should be willing to cut elsewhere in the budget to pay for it.

The state could use borrowing to pay for much of the rest of the proposed program, but the state's growing indebtedness is a concern.

Mr. Foley is focused on a proposed half-percent cut in the sales tax, on rooting out corruption and reducing state regulations to jump-start the economy. Those steps, however, are unlikely to significantly help struggling urban centers. Mr. Foley told our editorial board more state money is going to have to directed at the cities to get them moving, but provided no details on how or how much.