There's no way in hell the casinos are going to close under any circumstances. The state gets so much revenue from those things that the state casino inspectors will be deemed "essential employees" in the event of a government shutdown. If you have any doubt about this, just realize that this was precisely why casinos were given a blanket exemption under the state's anti-smoking law.
Lot of people are already ticked off because Daddy Warbuck gave the casinos an exemption on smoking in buildings. If I remember correctly they were the ONLY ones exempted by the law with Corzines blessing.
Gormley cuts deals all the time with Democrat and Republican governors at budget time, but since he is now in the minority, he has seen his influence decline (although you can still smoke in a casino)
Roberts (Speaker) is no dummy, and also can't be happy with the rumors that Corzine will attempt to have him removed as speaker.
A court already ruled yesterday that the inspectors are "non-essential" and, in addition, the racing cards at Monmouth Park wil be cancelled at one of the busiest weekends of the year - and with nice weather in the forecast.
The NJ governor, arguably, already the most powerful executive office in the nation (appointing all the other state office holders) assumes even greater authority under a World War II era statute and the constitutional requirement that the state cannot spend money without a balanced budget.
In the nearly 60 years since enactment, this is the first time the emergency has been declared.
Here is the executive order:
http://www.nj.gov/governor/news/news/approved/20060701a.html
The following is an except from nj.com (Star Ledger)
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/index.ssf?/base/news-7/115173139046780.xml&coll=1
"Al Porroni, executive director of the non-partisan Office of Legislative Services ... explained that delegates to New Jersey's 1947 constitutional convention were "very concerned about 'sound fiscal policy.' They must have used that term a thousand times."
Those delegates took a spending restriction from the constitution of 1844 and made it even tougher. The resulting provision established "the important policy requirements of a single annual appropriations bill and a balanced budget," according to a guide to the New Jersey Constitution written by Robert Williams, a professor at Rutgers School of Law in Camden.
The governor's powers under the act are "extraordinary," Porroni said. It authorizes the governor to use all resources of state and local governments and to "commandeer" private property "subject to the future payment of the reasonable value." It makes the governor the "emergency commander" with power that, on its face, cannot be challenged.
Lost in all of this is that the proposed budget is seeking a $3 BILLION spending increase - or 10.6% - on top of staggering increases during the previous four years.
($30.875 billion vs $27.920 billion in FY 06 which was overspent and over $300 million in supplementals added)
So for now, all "non-essential" government employees are furloughed. My question is ... if they are "non-essential" why are they on the payroll to begin with?