Since I work in the industry, I find it very interesting that much of the news regarding the New Jersey budget showdown is focused on the impact to Atlantic City casinos.
Yesterday, those casinos were forced to close as the state regulators who are required for their operation are deemed "non-essential personnel" and thus have stopped working until a budget has passed.
And boy, are those gamblers pissed.
What I find particularly interesting is that the budget showdown is not between Democrats and Republicans, but between a Democratic governor and the Democratic state assembly.
The governor wants to raise the state sales tax by one percentage point to cover the $4.5 billion state deficit, whereas the assembly wants to be re-elected at some point.
It's a tough call.
Meanwhile, of course, it's not just state employees that are feeling the pinch. About 36,000 casino workers in Atlantic City are out of work until the crisis passes, and of course there's that $1.3 million in state tax revenue per day that's being lost while the casinos are dark -- making the budget deficit worse as time goes on.
Not a fun time to be in Jersey.
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