From PRI, Public Radio International and KCRW Santa Monica, this is To the Point.

Will the recession force state government shutdowns?

Hello again, I'm Aronaldi, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International,

a daily look at the issues Americans care about most.

States all over the country are losing revenue. Last night six failed to resolve disputes over taxes and spending in time for the start of the new fiscal year. Without balanced budgets, Pennsylvania and Illinois face partial shutdowns. Connecticut and Ohio are barely limping along. California's run out of money, and the biggest state of the union

plans to pay its bills with IOUs starting tomorrow.

What are the consequences for education,

medical care, and public health?

Or is this a blessing in disguise

if it forces fiscal responsibility on state capitals?

On reporter's notebook later on,

should the painkillers Vicodin and Percocet be banned?

First, here's the news.

Support for To the Point comes from subscribers of KCRW Santa Monica and from the Public Radio

International Program Fund, whose contributors include the Ford Foundation, the John D. and Catherine

T. McArthur Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation and its campaign for

American workers. More at rockfound.org. Hello again, Mormon Alney, back with To the Point. Six states

failed to pass spending plans last night in time for the new fiscal year, which started today.

The biggest state in the Union, California, plans to pay its bills with IOUs. Other states barely made the

deadline by cutting services and raising taxes and fees. Are bloated expenditures finally being

brought under control or are states balancing budgets on the backs of the poor? On reporter's

notebook, an advisory body takes aim at popular painkillers, should Vicodin and Percocet be banned? Why not

...