Chris Bragg is reporting for the Times Union pay raises for an estimated 80,000 state executive branch employees may be deferred for more than two years, until April 2023, according to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s proposed state budget. The annual 2 percent pay increases that had been scheduled for unionized state workers would be expected to then be paid back to workers in 2023. Mark Kotzin, a spokesman for the Civil Service Employees Association, said the union's understanding is that the deferment until 2023 is the worst-case scenario. He said the Cuomo administration would not take the step if it receives significant help from the federal government in closing the state's multi-billion-dollar budget gap. The state CSEA contract expires in April, and no raise is contractually obligated after that time, but the state must pay back the raise that was deferred over the past year. CSEA has been lobbying Washington, D.C., along with the Cuomo administration for more federal funding, and the White House, as well as both houses of Congress, will be controlled by Democrats during the Biden administration. During the annual budget address January 19, Cuomo said there is a $15 billion gap between projected revenue and spending. State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli estimates the deficit is likely far less. Read the full story in the Times Union.