Gov. Corzine Orders New Jersey Government Shut Down

A first in the state’s history, the executive order halted road construction and lottery ticket sales, and put over half the state’s 80,000 employees on furlough. Gov. Jon S. Corzine ordered the shutdown after legislators missed a June 30 budget deadline due to disagreements over a measure to raise the sales tax to close a budget gap. Depending on a court ruling, the state’s 12 casinos may also have to shut their doors.

NYT:

By RICHARD G. JONES

TRENTON, July 1—Gov. Jon S. Corzine signed an executive order on Saturday shutting down the state’s government, for the first time in its history. Sales of lottery tickets stopped, road construction projects were halted and roughly 45,000 of the state’s 80,000 employees were put on furlough.

The order, a result of an impasse between the governor and the State Legislature over the budget for the new fiscal year, began a process in which the state, over the next few days, may close state parks, two state-run beaches and, depending on the outcome of a court case, the 12 Atlantic City casinos.

Essential operations, like the prisons, the state police, child protection services and mental hospitals, continued to run.

link