Corporate Gifts Keep Connecticut Beaches Open

Connecticut had to rely on corporate handouts Wednesday to keep three seaside parks open for the Fourth of July, which could be something less than a holiday for budget-weary legislators there and in some other states.

Maine and Pennsylvania were among the states that missed Monday’s deadline for passing a budget in time for the start of the fiscal year.

About 100 state workers marched through the Pennsylvania Capitol, protesting lawmakers’ failure to put together a budget and demanding that they receive paychecks. About 20,000 state workers will not be paid this week and next week because of the impasse.

In Maine, private liquor store owners reaped a bonanza when state liquor stores closed for lack of funds.

“This is not the way to run government,” said Maine Gov. John R. McKernan Jr., who shut down non-essential government services Tuesday after the Legislature refused to give in to his budget demands.

On the next day, Connecticut Gov. Lowell P. Weicker Jr. followed McKernan’s lead, putting 20,000 state workers temporarily out of work and shutting some state offices.

Three corporations promised $43,000 to keep three Connecticut state beaches open through the long holiday weekend. But 25 state parks were to be closed, and no solution to the state’s budget impasse appeared imminent.

Weicker and legislative leaders met Wednesday morning to discuss the budget and agreed to a modified news blackout--not to talk about their negotiations until there was progress to report.

That left them with little to say.

Much of state government remained open for business, despite the shutdown. The state’s lottery games continued, as did summer school courses at state colleges.