HARRISBURG — Far fewer potholes will be filled. The bass in state park lakes can swim without fear of anglers. And thousands of families have no idea when their paychecks will resume.

The furlough of more than 24,000 state employees and shutdown of many state government services that Gov. Ed Rendell announced just before midnight Sunday will have wide repercussions in Pennsylvania, not least the closing of museums and parks at the height of the summer tourist season.

Mark Tintle of Shady Side, Md., was packing up and leaving French Creek State Park in the Philadelphia suburbs Sunday afternoon. He and his wife drove 3½ hours on Friday night in a car packed with supplies for a weeklong camping vacation, only to be told they would have to leave today.

"The most disappointing part is that it wasn't something that was uncontrollable," Tintle said. "It wasn't because of a fire, a flood, an act of God. It was just an act of bureaucracy, of Democrats versus Republicans."

At least gamblers and employees of the state's five slot-machine parlors got a reprieve when a judge late Sunday granted a request by the casino owners to remain open, at least until a Tuesday hearing.

Bobby Soper, chief executive of Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs near Wilkes-Barre, said on his way into work Monday that he was pleased that the Commonwealth Court issued the preliminary injunction.

"Hopefully the budget impasse will be resolved and there will no longer be a question," Soper said. "Our employees are not state employees. We're like any other private entity."

He said he was concerned that patrons — there are usually about 5,000 on a typical week day — may not get the message and would stay away.

"The fact that it occurred at the 11th hour made it somewhat difficult to get the message out," Soper said.

Rendell, whose last-ditch negotiations with the Legislature fell short of a budget deal that could have averted the furloughs and partial shutdown, said he hoped the budget impasse with the Legislature will be brief.

"I sincerely hope that this will be a one-day furlough and I have reason for optimism," he said, but declined to discuss remaining areas of disagreement.

A battle of wills between the Democratic governor and the Republicans who control the Senate has entered its ninth day since the new fiscal year began. Lacking an approved budget, the state has lost the authority to spend money on nonessential services and employees.

With Rendell's order, state workers whose jobs are not deemed to be essential to health and safety were furloughed without pay beginning today.

Pennsylvanians will be unable to take driver's license tests. A range of permitting and licensing functions will be stopped or severely curtailed. Even the lights illuminating the Capitol's dome are to be turned off.

Critical services — such as health care for the poor, state police patrols and prisons — are being maintained.

Republicans said they doubted that the furloughs were a legal necessity and repeated complaints that Rendell has included other priorities in the budget talks. Key sticking points include raising the state's debt ceiling and an energy plan that Rendell has insisted the Legislature approve before he signs the budget, they said.

"We have a $650 million surplus in Pennsylvania," said Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware. "There's absolutely no reason why we can't have a budget agreement. We could have had a budget earlier but for these ancillary issues."

The centerpiece of Rendell's energy plan would place a surcharge on electricity use for a fund for alternative energy programs and electricity conservation. Republican legislators oppose the surcharge and accused the governor of holding state employees hostage to force them to approve it.

"I can't believe that a man who would call himself governor would do this to state employees," said Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson.

David Fillman, the executive director of Council 13 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, said his union members, 14,000 of whom face furlough, should not have been caught in the middle of a political dispute.

"A lot of them live paycheck to paycheck, and even if it's a day's pay that they lose, it has an effect on their personal budgets," he said.

A legal effort by state employees' unions to put furloughs on hold failed Saturday, but a hearing was scheduled for today.

Gov. Ed Rendell's office listed these areas that have been affected by furloughs brought on by the state budget impasse:• About 52,000 "critical" state workers will remain on the job and be paid on time. Their ranks include state police troopers, corrections officers and welfare case managers.• About 24,000 "noncritical" state employees will be furloughed without pay indefinitely. They include 6,400 state Department of Transportation highway maintenance workers, 2,300 in the state forests and parks department and 1,800 in the Revenue Department. The PennDOT highway department office in Butler Township said this morning that 113 of 130 workers have been furloughed.• Rendell and about 2,000 other administration officials, as well as state judges and legislators, will work without pay. Once a budget is in place, they will receive back pay.• About 12,000 workers at agencies supported by special funding will continue to work and be paid. Those agencies include the Liquor Control Board, Pennsylvania Lottery, Game Commission and Fish and Boat Commission.

Here is how some state services will be affected by a partial government shutdown:<B>FUNCTIONING</B>• Health care for the poor, food stamps and cash assistance• Prisons• State police patrols• Agriculture Department inspections of restaurants, farms and amusement rides• Health and Agriculture Department laboratories• Health Department inspections of hospitals and nursing homes• Health Department immunization clinics• Highway Department bridge and highway safety inspections• Job placement, unemployment compensation and worker compensation services• Liquor stores• State lottery• Board of Probation and Parole• Emergency management awareness and response coordination• National Guard support services• Teacher certifications and background checks• Electronic filing of birth records• Property tax/rent rebate programreduced• Highway Department road maintenance crews• Public works projects• State purchases of goods and services• Custodial services at state buildings• State Department business license processing• Insurance complaint responses, rate reviews and agent licensing• Labor Relations Board and the Bureau of Mediation<B>NOT FUNCTIONING</B>• Environmental impact permitting• State park cabins and campgrounds• Driver license offices• Contractor payments• Grant programs• Civil service testing• Welcome centers• Museums and historic sites• Revenue Department tax collection, enforcement and auditing• Highway occupancy permitting• Inspector General investigations and prosecutions• Birth and death certificate satellite offices• Fire Commissioner loan processing• Banking Department license processing and consumer assistance• Technology services for state agenciesSource: Governor's Office