7 Painful Things That Could Happen If N.J. Government Shuts Down

You may not know it, but the New Jersey government has a big impact on your lives. So much so that you'll feel the pain if it shuts down.

Right now, the Christie administration is locked in a stalemate over school funding and the governor's desire to use state lottery revenue for the pension system, as well as extract $300 million from the reserve fund from the state's largest health insurance company, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, to pay for drug addiction treatment.

Democratic lawmakers, meanwhile, want to allocate $100 million more than the school funding Gov. Chris Christie proposed for the 2017-18 fiscal year. But others, like Toms River and Brick, could lose millions in so-called "adjustment aid," which was created in 2008 to make sure districts would not see big drops in their state aid when a new formula went into effect.

The last shut down was in 2006, the first one ever. Now, like then, both sides have to find some way to make a deal on a potential $35.5 billion by July 1 - when the new fiscal year starts - or face a possible shutdown.

Here's what could happen:

• The MVC could shut down, meaning you can't get a driver's license, get a new registration or anything else that will allow you to go behind the wheel.
• In 2006, the courts closed, so the same thing could happen this time. You may not have to wait to deal with that traffic ticket since that's handled on the municipal court level. But what about criminal cases?
In 2006, state courts were closed for anything but emergencies.
• No N.J. Lottery, so you're going to have to wait even longer to earn that extra million.
• In 2006, road construction projects that weren't considered essential had to stop. State officials have said the same thing would happen this time.
• About 45,000 state employees were immediately furloughed, so expect the same now.
• In 2006, state-run parks, beaches and historic sites were were closed but were expected to remain open through the July Fourth holiday. Except that same thing if .
• Services such as state police, prisons, mental hospitals and child welfare will likely keep operating.

Some information was culled from reports from CBS2 and NJ.com

Patch file photo