 Long before the deadline date, Corzine had stated that he would not accept a budget that did not include a sales tax increase.Due to Corzine's insistence, the state's General Assembly, which was dominated by Democrats, refused to pass a budget before the deadline.After the legislature failed to pass a budget by midnight July 1 when the old budget ended, the governor signed executive order number 17 that immediately stopped numerous non-essential government functions, with more to come after the Independence Day holiday on July 4, 2006.