ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- In Bally's Casino yesterday there was plenty of bling but no ring, zero ding. Lights were flashing like a carnival midway: Joker Poker signs were blinking - claiming to be just about definitely prepared to pay some lucky sap $4,125.39 - and the Slingo machines shined with their usual unfulfilled promises of riches.
But the ca-chings were absent, the bloop-bloop-bloops of the slot machines mute, no silent prayers were answered with the crashing sound of shiny new quarters on shiny tin trays.
The casino, like much of New Jersey, was closed, the result of an impasse that began Saturday when the Legislature failed to adopt a state budget.
"I look at it this way: I'm saving money," said Kenneth Shean, 67, of West Springfield, Mass., who lost "enough" before he was booted from the slot machines at the Showboat Casino when all 12 of Atlantic City's gambling halls were ordered closed at 8 a.m. "If I can't bet, I can't lose."
A lot of casino workers, though, are losing lots of money - about $3 million a day, according to the Casino Association of New Jersey. And thousands more state employees will be going without a paycheck, at least for the immediate future.
So far, the Legislature has said no dice to Gov. Jon Corzine's proposal to increase the state sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent to close a $4.5 billion budget gap. The increase would cost a New Jersey family about $275 per year on average.
When the sides failed to reach a compromise by Saturday's deadline for approving a budget, Corzine ordered a halt to all nonessential state services. The Casino Control Commission and an appeals court separately ruled that state gaming inspectors could not take to the casino floors, as required for the games to go on.
Corzine addressed the Legislature at the Statehouse yesterday morning, defending his position as the stalemate over the budget entered its fifth day with no deal in sight.
"It is deplorable that the people of this state are left in such a painful position," Corzine told the lawmakers. "The people of New Jersey have every right to be angry."
In all, more than 45,000 state employees have been furloughed and at least half of the 40,000 or so employees connected to gambling here won't be returning to work until a budget deal is reached.
And neither Corzine nor his fellow Democrats in the Legislature seemed willing to budge yesterday.
