NEW YORK, July 2: The Governor of New Jersey, Jon Corzine, signed an executive order on Saturday to effectively shut down the state’s government for the first time in history as a result of an impasse between the governor and the state legislature over the budget for the new fiscal year.
New Jersey borders New York state and every day some two million people commute back and forth.
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 state, with a population of about nine million, has a large South Asian population.
In the coming days, it 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.
But some effects were felt almost immediately.
Operations of the Department of Motor Vehicles were suspended when offices around the state closed at noon on Saturday.
