ALBANY — Governor Spitzer is planning to funnel millions of dollars in borrowed state money to Senate Democrats, who have been secretly asked by the administration to submit their wish lists for local capital projects, according to lawmakers.

The move marks the governor’s boldest effort to solidify his influence over the Democratic conference, whose support he is counting on in the short term to give him an edge during negotiations, and in the long term to play an instrumental role in pushing through his governing agenda.

For the past month, Senate Democrats have been submitting the paperwork for tens of millions of dollars in grants unbeknownst to most other lawmakers. There is no written agreement between Mr. Spitzer and the conference; the administration discussed the possibility of funding Senate Democratic projects with Minority Leader Malcolm Smith, who passed on the message to conference members at a private meeting.

News has slowly leaked out, as Senate Democrats have discussed the money with potential grantees and legislative colleagues. The New York Sun learned of Mr. Spitzer’s plan from a Democratic member of the Assembly who heard a Democratic senator talking about a $1 million grant that the senator assumed was in the pipeline.

For Senate Democrats, who have languished for years as beggars in Albany’s pork hierarchy, the capital money would be remarkable reversal of fortune.

During the Pataki administration, the governor and the leaders of the Republican-led Senate and the Democratic-led Assembly divvied up billions of dollars in borrowed money to fund a vast array of economic development projects that rewarded select constituencies. Almost none of it was touched by Senate Democrats, who stood on the sidelines complaining about the lack of equity.

While Mr. Pataki would often sprinkle crumbs on Assembly Republicans, the minority in the chamber, Mr. Spitzer is considering rewarding a legislative conference with an unprecedented amount of largesse. The money would further deepen his ties to Senate Democrats, who pulled one seat closer to ousting Republicans from the majority largely thanks to Mr. Spitzer’s all-out support for the candidacy of Craig Johnson, the Democrat who won the Long Island special election to fill a Senate vacancy.

Mr. Spitzer put out the offer in the weeks preceding the eruption over the search for a state comptroller to replace Alan Hevesi. Senate Democrats were among the few in the Legislature to have stood behind Mr. Spitzer in not voting for Thomas DiNapoli, the choice of Assembly speaker, Sheldon Silver, and Republican majority leader, Joseph Bruno. Mr. Spitzer, who vented rage at lawmakers who voted for Mr. DiNapoli, showed his appreciation by inviting Senate Democrats for cocktails at the governor’s mansion.

Mr. Spitzer has told the Democratic senators that he is not guaranteeing that he will grant all of their wishes. He could be holding back until after the completion of the budget, which is due by April 1. Democratic Senate support for Mr. Spitzer’s $120 billion spending plan would give him an upper hand in budget talks by protecting him from legislative overrides. Mr. Pataki rarely had such leverage over Messrs Bruno and Silver, forcing him to yield to legislative demands rather than suffer the embarrassment of an override.

Mr. Spitzer’s tight relationship with Senate Democrats could become even more important if the party gains control of the Senate, where Republicans outnumber Democrats 33 to 29. An alliance with a majority Senate Democratic conference would give Mr. Spitzer vast control over the budget process by marginalizing Mr. Silver.

Senate Democrats refused to speak about Mr. Spitzer’s proposal on the record. Lawmakers interviewed said they viewed the money as a reward for loyalty but said it would also rectify years of imbalance in the distribution of capital money.

Mr. Spitzer’s plans, however, are sure to attract scrutiny from other lawmakers, particularly in the Democratic Assembly, a conference whose members in the aftermath of the comptroller feud have criticized Mr. Spitzer for trying to exercise too much influence over the Legislature.

One Democratic assemblyman said Mr. Spitzer’s plans to bankroll Senate capital projects would undercut his promise to bring transparency to the budget process. “Is that really any different than the same old Albany politics that people are complaining about?” a Democratic assemblyman said. “I don’t think so. It’s politics as usual.”

Spitzer administration officials wouldn’t comment on his plans, but lawmakers say the governor is paying for the capital grants by tapping a pool of reappropriated capital funds left over by the Pataki administration. Mr. Spitzer could be using the remainder of the $520 million that represented the governor’s share of a $1.2 billion pot of economic capital money first approved in the 2002-03 budget.

At a private meeting last month, Senate Democrats were told by their leader, Mr. Smith, that Mr. Spitzer was soliciting requests for capital projects exclusively from their conference and that they each could submit as many as three proposals to the governor office’s, Senate Democrats told the Sun.

Mr. Smith did not set a limit on how much money each of the 29 Democrats could request.

Lawmakers interviewed said they did not know how much money other members of the conference were asking for but that they were testing their luck with grants totaling $1 million to $2 million in capital funds.