Corzine Shut Downs New Jersey's Government
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Published: July 1, 2006
TRENTON, July 1 -- Unable to break a bitter impasse with the New Jersey Legislature on a new budget, Gov. Jon S. Corzine signed an executive order today that shut down the state’s government for the first time in its history.
The order began a process that over the next few days will see the state close its parks, beaches and, depending on the outcome of a court decision, possibly the 12 Atlantic City casinos.
The effects of the order were felt almost immediately. Department of Motor Vehicle operations were suspended when offices around the state closed at noon Saturday. Horse racing was called off. Road construction projects were halted.
And the New Jersey Lottery, which with $2 billion in annual sales is the fourth-largest source of revenue for the state after income, sales and corporate taxes, was ordered to stop selling tickets tonight.
“It gives me no joy, no satisfaction, no sense of empowerment to do what I am forced to do,” Mr. Corzine said. “We will do everything we can to bring this to a short conclusion.”
Essential operations, like the prisons, the state police, child protection services and mental hospitals, will continue to run during the shutdown. But roughly 36,000 of the state’s 80,000 employees were immediately furloughed under the order.
The status of the state’s casinos remained unclear. Lawyers representing the casinos had gone to a state appellate court on Friday seeking a ruling that would allow them to remain open. But the court said that it had no jurisdiction to consider the request until after Mr. Corzine issued the shutdown order.
The court was expected to take up the matter after Mr. Corzine signed the order and Stuart Rabner, the governor’s chief counsel, said that if a judge upheld Mr. Corzine’s request, casinos could close as soon as the morning after a ruling was issued.
Mr. Corzine, a Democrat, said that he felt compelled to sign the order after he and the Democrat-controlled Legislature could not reach agreement on Mr. Corzine’s proposal to help balance the budget by raising the sales tax to 7 percent from 6 percent. |
