IMPEACH BUSH

WASHINGTON — Governors David A. Paterson of New York and Jon S. Corzine of New Jersey added their voices Wednesday to the growing support for a second federal economic stimulus package, saying state governments would face devastating cutbacks if they did not receive assistance soon.

Appearing before separate congressional committees, they said that their states, like many others, had already moved to address budget deficits. Their actions alone would not be enough, they said.

"We are cutting all we can," Mr. Paterson told the House Ways and Means Committee. "Therefore, we feel that targeted, sensible actions by the federal government will provide relief for us now."

Speaking to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Mr. Corzine implored, "We need federal help to get through these tough times."

Their remarks increased the pressure on the federal government to include money for state governments in the next round of economic stimulus legislation, pointedly putting the requests of the executives of two of the nation's most populous states on the record.

Later, at a joint news conference, Mr. Paterson and Mr. Corzine called for assistance to support infrastructure projects like bridges and roads, and for assistance to prevent social programs like unemployment insurance from running out of money.

"The federal government ignores state and local governments at serious peril," Mr. Corzine said.

The type of legislation they called for would probably be in the range of hundreds of billions of dollars. Congressional Democrats have said they would like to see such legislation approved quickly, but there is doubt that President Bush would agree.

Mr. Paterson's appearance on Capitol Hill came a day after he warned that the state deficit over the next three and a half years was expected to be $47 billion. He has called on state lawmakers to put forward ideas on how to reduce the state budget in preparation for a special legislative session he has called for Nov. 18.

In written testimony he submitted to the committee, Mr. Paterson was even more pointed, criticizing the federal government for not preventing the current economic upheaval and for its lack of attention to the states.

"I firmly believe that if it took only two weeks for the federal government to find $700 billion to bail out Wall Street and bank executives," he said, "then we ought to be able to find a fraction of that amount to help preserve essential services at the state level."

He added, "The results of federal inaction could be devastating in every corner of our nation."

In the written testimony, Mr. Paterson repeatedly invoked the economic damage resulting from the Sept. 11 attacks, saying that the threat to New York's economy was in many ways far more severe now than it was then.

He said New York and other states were on the verge of finding themselves unable to provide essential social services like unemployment benefits and food stamps and needed federal assistance.

"Just like the financial services industry, we need a partner in the federal government in order to help stave off an impending calamity."