I feel so BAD

i miss something?

Whats going on in AC?

All the AC casinos were ordered to shut down effective today until the budget is approved.

NJ will lose approx $2m per day in gambling tax revenue alone until the budget issues are resolved.

Atlantic City casinos shut down
12 facilities forced to close due to budget battle in New Jersey
A casino worker closes off the casino floor at Caesar's Atlantic City casino on Wednesday.

Updated: 32 minutes ago
TRENTON, N.J. - If there’s one sure thing in this city of uncertainties, it’s always been this: Casinos find a way to keep the dice rolling.

Until now.

Atlantic City’s 12 casinos — from the three Trumps to the Tropicana — shut down their gambling floors Wednesday morning for the first time ever, their hand forced by a stalemate over the state budget.

The casinos’ hotels, which attract millions of gamblers and vacationers every year, will remain open because they don’t require state involvement in their day-to-day operations, but no gambling will be allowed because the state casino inspectors who keep tabs on the money are off the job until lawmakers approve the budget. State parks and beaches will also close because of the lack of staff.

Minutes before the 8 a.m. deadline Wednesday, gamblers were still at the slot machines with their cups of coins.

“What else can you do down here besides gamble?” said Janice Sidwa, 60, who was in the midst of a four-day trip to the city.

Missed deadline
The problem started when the Legislature missed its July 1 constitutional deadline to pass the budget. Gov. Jon S. Corzine ordered state office shutdown Saturday, all non-essential state government operations closed, and furloughed more than half the state’s employees.

Only about 36,000 people in vital roles such as child welfare, state police and mental hospitals remained on the job.

Without an approved spending plan, New Jersey can’t pay its state employees.

That means state parks, beaches, campgrounds and historic sites are also closing down — another smack to residents, with school out and the summer heat sizzling.

The casino shutdowns are a particularly hard blow to the state’s coffers as lawmakers fight over how to close a $4.5 billion hole in the governor’s state budget.

The Atlantic City casinos have a $1.1 billion payroll and spend billions more on goods and services. The state gets an 8 percent cut of their revenue — about $1.3 million a day.

“They’re going to lose a lot of money,” said Jerome Harper, 42, of Philadelphia, who was playing the slots at Resorts Atlantic City. “It’s bad. Why close it down when you could just do your job and put the budget together? That’s what they’re paid for.”

The Legislature, meanwhile, is under orders to get to work.

New address by Corzine
Corzine planned to address all 120 state lawmakers again Wednesday morning about the impasse.

The dispute — between the governor and his fellow Democrats who control the Legislature — centers on Corzine’s plan to raise the state sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent to help overcome a $4.5 billion budget deficit in his $31 billion spending plan. The proposal would cost the average New Jersey family an estimated $275 per year.

Casino executives were busy trying to make sure the shutdown was orderly.

Up to 15,000 casino employees would be thrown out of work by the closings, and that number could double if the casinos remain closed through the weekend, according to Robert McDevitt, president of Local 54 of UNITE HERE, a labor union that represents rank-and-file casino hotel workers.

Police Chief John Mooney worried that the sudden evacuation of the casinos could lead to problems with drunken driving, street crime and labor unrest. If the shutdown continues, casino workers who aren’t being paid could make trouble, he said.

“This is a state-created disaster,” Mooney said.

The gamblers were well aware of the loss for the city.

“This is what brings the money in,” said Bertha Arrington, 57, of Baldwin, N.Y., sitting at slot machine Tuesday.

wow...that's absolutely INSANE. i mean, i don't care about gambling...and i'm sure i heard of this story on the radio but tuned it out when they said NJ, but that's just a little wacky. what a great way to make a point...close down a $$$ making industry/area in the middle of summer! brilliant.

New Jersey isn't the first to do this! NY has done it in the past when the budget has not passed placing all state workers to take their own time while the budget is diputed and many in NJ will lose their jobs over this!

The federal government had this happen over a 3 day period while Clinton was in office. No one is paid while any gov't is shut down!

yup - AC closed down 8 am today. can you even imagine?? i almost want to drive there to see how empty a casino can actually be....


seriously - i would recommend that your FH change his plans.....AC suxs w/o casinos....

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Posted by CC59

I think they'll have it resolved by then. they're loising sooooo much money with all of these closings.

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they said $1.3M each day!!