ALBANY, N.Y.  New York Lt. Gov. David Paterson won't officially take the oath of office as the state's new governor until Monday, but he made it clear Thursday that he's started the transition process.

Paterson will succeed Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who resigned Wednesday amid a sex scandal. The lieutenant governor met with leaders and received updates on the state budget process.

Patterson, 53, told a packed room of reporters at the state Capitol, "It is time to get back to the business of the state."

"I promised the governor yesterday that I would commit myself to the people of this great state," he said, "that we would have stability and continuity in those challenges that lie ahead. Now we have to get New York back on track."

Paterson will officially be sworn in at 1 p.m. Monday.

"I am prepared," he said.

On policy issues, Paterson generally backed several initiatives laid out by Spitzer during his 14 months in office.

He said he would not support an income tax increase on people making more than $1 million a year, as proposed by Assembly Democrats.

He said he would consider a property tax cap being explored by a commission Spitzer established.

Paterson said he was committed to a $1 billion upstate economic development fund.

The lieutenant governor said he wanted the five-day transition to get up to speed on state business.

"There may be a five-day transition period, but we are hard at work at this moment putting together a budget that will help New York to thrive," he said.

Paterson, a Democrat from Harlem, will become New York's first African-American governor and the nation's first legally blind chief executive.

He admitted that his ascension comes "not the way most people would want."

Paterson lightened the mood with his wit and sense of humor.

He joked, "On Monday at 1 p.m., I will have the oath of office administered to me in the Assembly chamber.

"Most of you are invited."

Paterson received a national security briefing Thursday morning, allowing him to receive confidential security details in the case of an emergency.

He said he plans to meet with leaders around the state in the next few days.

Earlier in the day, Paterson said he had a feeling of "guilt" over the way he became the state's first African-American governor.

Yet, he said, maybe he can serve as an inspiration for other people of color and those with disabilities.

"There were many African-Americans, men and women, who throughout the past couple of centuries, had the ability, worked hard enough, had the acumen to run the state but because of the most petty and most banal aspects of human existence weren't afforded the opportunity," he said on an Albany radio show.

"While it's a personal achievement for me, it says that we are moving in the right direction," he said, "but who knows what we could have accomplished if we had gotten there sooner."

Former Republican governor George Pataki said he has confidence in Paterson.

"He knows state government, and he knows it not just from the executive branch as lieutenant governor, but the legislative branch from his years of service in the Senate," Pataki said. "As governor you have executive power and there are things you can do with that executive power, but if want to change anything legislative, you need to have both houses. I think Gov. Paterson understands that."