With their budgets bleeding red ink, the governors say they plan to argue that states are not just victims of the recession, but also effective engines of economic recovery, capable of quickly delivering increased federal spending on infrastructure projects and social programs.

"By no means are we looking for the federal government to relieve of us of our responsibilities, but we do need help," Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, the chairman of the National Governors Association, said during a news conference in Washington yesterday with state leaders.

Otherwise, Rendell said, "we'll have to just make continuing cuts or raise taxes, both of which will have a deleterious effect on our states' economies."

The bipartisan meeting, scheduled for 10 a.m. at Congress Hall in the Independence National Historical Park, is a political coup for Rendell, who is hosting Obama's first official trip outside Chicago since the election, aside from a brief visit to the White House on Nov. 10.

Organizers expect that 45 governors will attend.

Separately, Monday night Obama was scheduled to meet with 28 Democratic governors at the Independence Visitors Center.

Specifically, the governors want a two-year increase in the federal share of the cost of the Medicaid program; federal investments in construction of roads and bridges, mass-transit projects and other infrastructure; an extension of unemployment benefits; and more money for federal food stamps.

States already are facing revenue shortfalls totaling $40 billion for the 2009 fiscal year, which starts July 1. The NGA and the National Conference of State Legislatures project red ink at least through 2010 as the costs of the recession pile up.

"There's a cascading effect when the economy goes sour," said Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas, a Republican who is co-chairman of the NGA.

"The costs often can lag the economic recovery, because it sometimes takes a while for individuals facing family emergencies to apply for food stamps, Medicaid and other benefits they're entitled to," Douglas said. "We're in this for the long haul."

Rendell said that states have an estimated $136 billion worth of infrastructure projects ready to go, and that federal spending can prime the pump while taking care of transportation and other needs that will help the economy's long-term prospects.