BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo Bills have reportedly asked the state and county for at least $1.1 billion to cover the full cost of building a new stadium in Orchard Park, according to The Buffalo News.

New York state Sen. Tim Kennedy, D-Buffalo, said the team plays an important role in the community, but any commitment to funding is still a long way off.

"This is the beginning of a negotiation, and like any negotiation, there's a beginning and there's a middle and there's an end,” Kennedy said. “And there's a long way before this thing gets finished. And it's just the beginning. The opening salve. The opening of a larger negotiation and conversation that's going to take place over the course of the next many months and next couple of years.”

Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes, D-Buffalo, also believed the proposed offer is just a starting point for negotiations. However, she does think the team should at least shoulder some of the financial burden.

"It's too much to ask the public to sponsor your entire opportunity to make money unless there's going to be a percentage of the benefits of your profit,” she said. “Now if we can add that to the negotiations, perhaps there's a conversation to have.”

Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul said keeping the Bills in Western New York is a priority of the Cuomo administration. She said right now they are just learning the full scale of what the team is proposing.

Hochul said she won't negotiate through the press.

"The numbers are not going to be discussed today," Hochul said. "They're an unknown at this point because we're just having preliminary conversations, but let the fans know we're very excited about the upcoming season and we expect the Bills to be here a very long time."

She said the proposal on the table is to demolish the existing stadium and build a new one across the street in Orchard Park. Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said he would have loved to see a stadium built in the city of Buffalo, but understands there are additional costs and complications that would have come with it.

"I think that this will be a decision that the public will weigh into," Brown said. "The public loves this team and it means a lot to the people of Buffalo and Western New York, and I am hopeful that that will play some role in driving the process because the building of the stadium, no matter where it is, is an expensive proposition."