In the wake of the 35-day federal government shutdown, New York State lawmakers can't depend on litigation to improve the state's bottom line, top state officials said Monday, meaning they will have to resolve a looming budget shortfall without that help.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo and State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli warned about the coming fiscal hazard on Monday.

The shutdown, which lifted on Jan. 25, delayed filing deadlines in the state's lawsuit against the Trump administration over a federal law that capped the amount taxpayers can deduct in state and local taxes at $10,000, a number exceeded in several areas of New York.

A federal judge approved a new schedule on Monday that places filing deadlines for a possible injunction against the cap well into March, just weeks before a final fiscal plan for the state is due to be approved by Cuomo and state lawmakers.

The state filed its motion in December to strike down the cap, which Cuomo and DiNapoli warned on Monday has contributed to an estimated $2.3 billion reduction in personal income tax revenues to the state heading into negotiations on the $175 billion state budget.

The state has previously warned of such a consequence, both in public statements by officials and its initial filing for the injunction. The New York Attorney General's Office argued at the time that the federal law impeded on the state's authority to impose its own tax structure, which could change the way the state spends its money.

“The new cap disregards this previously unquestioned respect for the States' distinct and inviolable role in our federalist scheme,” the filing said. “And, as many members of Congress and officials in the Executive Branch transparently admitted, it deliberately seeks to compel certain States to reduce their public spending.”

That's the situation Cuomo and DiNapoli outlined Monday morning. They warned that cuts would likely result in the state budget that hadn't been planned for before revenues started to decline last year.

“Well, if you are losing tax revenue, it's going to affect your budget overall, and we just put forth the budget and our budget priorities,” Cuomo said. “But if you lose $2.3 billion, you have $2.3 billion less to spend. That is simple, undeniable math.”

The state is still evaluating whether the unexpected gap will actually be $2.3 billion, or if income tax receipts that haven't yet been accounted for in recent weeks will make up some of that difference. Those calculations will be used to determine where lawmakers either need to make cuts or increase revenue in the state's final spending plan, which is due at the end of March.

An injunction in the case would not immediately solve the problem described by Cuomo and DiNapoli on Monday. Cuomo suggested that the decline in income tax revenue was partly due to high-income earners beginning to either move out of the state or change the status of their legal residence if they own more than one home.

“We have been hearing all along from the major accounting firms, to major individuals, that this is going to be the tipping point and that people now will be making a decision to make a geographic location change,” Cuomo said.

But the state could, in the future, have success in the litigation providing some relief to the government's coffers if the cap is struck down. Taxpayers will have to wait longer than expected for any resolution in the case, though, given a new filing schedule approved on Monday by U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken of the Southern District of New York.

The lawsuit was put on hold in late December as the federal government entered the first days of what was to become the longest shutdown in U.S. history. As a matter of procedure, the case was stayed while the shutdown was ongoing.

If the government had not shut down, filings on a possible injunction against the cap on state and local tax deductions would have been due Feb. 8. That deadline is now set for March 15, given the 35-day delay in the case during the shutdown. By that time, much of the state budget will likely be wrapped up, excluding the more controversial policy issues.

The Trump administration has also filed a motion to dismiss the challenge, which it called in filings a “revisionist history” of federal law.

New York Attorney General Letitia James is leading the lawsuit, which also includes attorneys general from New Jersey, Connecticut and Maryland.

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