On Monday the New Jersey casinos lost a legal fight to remain open during the state wide government shutdown.

The State Supreme Court Justice James Zazzali said after a telephone hearing that the casinos in New Jersey have not made an adequate case with the state that the inspectors legally required to be on state premises are essential state employees, reported a local newspaper.

The head of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission, Linda Kassekert ordered the casinos to shut down all gambling operations in the state by 8 in the morning on Wednesday unless the state has approved a budget by then. This has allowed the casinos to continue to operate through the Independence Day weekend and holiday.

Nearly 40,000 employees at the 12 casinos in Atlantic city will be affected immediately, but a long term closure of the casinos could begin to affect workers in the casino hotels, restaurants and even the parking garages, plus the thousands more whose jobs are closely tied in to the casinos and gambling world, like taxi drivers and bus drivers of tour busses, as well as the owners of Atlantic City businesses.

Closing the casinos will also be expensive for the state, depriving itself of greatly needed tax revenues at the same time that the employees it has put out of work will be applying for unemployment benefits.