PROVIDENCE — With state government facing a sea of red ink, Governor Carcieri will stand before a joint session of the House and Senate at 7 tonight and deliver what could be his bleakest State of the State address yet.

Under state law, his budget proposal was due last week, but having asked lawmakers to give him until the end of the month to present it, he is not likely to use the speech as a platform to announce all of his spending and budget-cutting plans.

But other governors in the region have, in recent weeks, used their state of the state addresses to talk about the strain national economic trends have placed on their state’s economy. Republican Carcieri is expected to do likewise while attempting to rally public and legislative support for cost-cutting measures — such as his proposed $12.7 million midyear cut in municipal aid — that have already evoked howls out of the cities and towns.

Yesterday, his spokesman Jeff Neal said the governor “is expected to focus his remarks on the short- and long-term fiscal challenges confronting state government” and “discuss the broad outlines of the difficult decisions necessary to balance the budget deficit in the current and coming fiscal years [FY 2008 and 2009].

“He will also generally encourage reforms that will provide long-term benefits for the state budget, Rhode Island taxpayers, and the state economy,” Neal said.

Rhode Island is not alone. In Maine earlier this month, Gov. John Baldacci said: “Home heating oil and gasoline prices are at record highs. Winter, just a few weeks old, has already shown its teeth. The national economy is struggling under the weight of declining home values. State revenues are not immune from the national condition and are falling short of expectations … We are forced to make hard decisions and set priorities.”

In Vermont, Gov. James Douglas said: “We must seek efficiencies … stretch resources while protecting the most vulnerable; and treat precious taxpayer dollars as if we earned them ourselves.… Today, I lay out a series of proposals to achieve prosperity through affordability and to rethink, revitalize and reform the way our state approaches its most pressing challenges.”

Fresh from reelection a year ago, Carcieri told lawmakers here that Rhode Island’s “ship of state,” having righted itself, was “heading in a new and exciting direction,” but threatened by a continuing penchant for overspending.

At that time, he said: “This has been the most difficult budget since I took office.”

“As in recent years,” he said then, “Rhode Island is benefiting from continued growth in revenues. However, each year our appetite to spend exceeds our resources. Every family watching tonight knows that if they’re only getting a 2 percent pay raise this year, they can’t spend 9 percent more …”

A year ago, he also said: “The combined, two-year projected excess of expenditures over revenues [is] almost $360 million … Balancing this budget will require sacrifices everywhere. We must further reform our entitlements, demand more cost-effective services from our vendors, develop new service models, and reduce our personnel costs.”

With the state now facing a projected $151-million revenue-spending gap this year, and a potential deficit of up to $450 million in the budget year that begins on July 1, expect more of the same this year.

Immediately following the governor’s speech, House Majority Leader Gordon D. Fox, D-Providence, and Senate Majority Leader M. Teresa Paiva Weed, D-Newport, will “offer the perspective of the General Assembly’s Democratic Party on the condition of the state and share their vision for Rhode Island’s future.”

Both the governor’s speech and the Democrats’ response will be aired live by Capitol Television, the broadcast arm of the General Assembly, on Statewide Interconnect C, which is Channel 15 for both Cox Communications and Full Channel (Channel 34 on Verizon).

The address is also expected to be broadcast live on television by WJAR-TV (Channel 10) and WPRI-TV (Channel 12), and on radio by WPRO 630 AM, WHJJ 920 AM and WRNI 1290 AM.

WPRI-TV is also expected to Webcast the speech live on wpri.com. Projo.com plans to carry the speech via wpri.com, and aims to publish an advance copy of the speech later tonight.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story incorrectly gave the channel number for the Verizon broadcast. It is 34.

kgregg@projo.com