 Aides to Corzine claimed that the governor felt he had no choice but to order the shutdown under the state's Constitution.Corzine, in attempting to pass his conceptual budget, came into conflict with fellow state Democrats in the New Jersey General Assembly, particularly over their refusal to implement his proposed increase of the state's sales tax from 6% to 7% to fill a $4.5 billion budget gap.Corzine maintained that the gap could not be filled by any other means due to the state's constitution and a ruling of New Jersey's Supreme Court.