TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie today ordered his cabinet to begin planning to shut down state government July 1 if there is no budget by that constitutional deadline, the Associated Press reports..
“The administration remains highly confident that the budget process will be successfully completed in advance of the legal deadline,” according to a memo to the Cabinet from Christie chief counsel Jeff Chiesa, the report said.
He cautioned, however, “it is appropriate to begin to engage in departmental contingency planning for the unlikely outcome that a budget is not enacted by June 30th … It will be necessary to shut down most operations of state government.”
The document, obtained by The Star-Ledger, was dated Thursday and distributed today.
Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak said his office is preparing for all possible outcomes. The governor proposed a controversial $29.3 billion spending plan in March.
If a new budget is not enacted by July 1, the law requires that a “state of emergency” be declared and that the state stop paying its bills or incurring new expenses until a spending plan is in place.
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Colin…
