At its 91^st Annual Gala this evening, the Citizens Budget Commission (CBC) will honor Governor Kathy Hochul with its 2023 Medal for High Civic Service, and Stephen Berger with its 2023 Felix G. Rohatyn Award. Each year, the Felix G. Rohatyn Award honors an individual whose career exemplifies its namesake’s commitment to public service and New York’s sound fiscal management. The Medal for High Civic Service is bestowed upon a current or former public official who shares the CBC’s commitment and desire for serving the public.

This evening, the Felix G. Rohatyn Award will be presented by Eugene Keilin and Nicolas Rohatyn, and the Governor will be introduced by Mayor Eric Adams, with the Medal for High Civic Service presented by Marissa Shorenstein.

“Governor Hochul's lifelong dedication to public service gives her the pragmatism and steady hand to help lift us out of the crises of the past few years to ensure a brighter future for all New Yorkers,” said Marissa Shorenstein, Chair of the Citizens Budget Commission. “She is a role model to all New Yorkers, but especially to me and the millions of young girls and women who call New York home.”

“Since taking office I’ve been fighting every day to make New York more affordable, more livable and safer,” Governor Hochul said. “I’m honored to receive this award from the Citizens Budget Commission and look forward to continuing to work together to ensure New York's strength and success for years to come."

“We are delighted to present this year’s Felix Rohatyn Award to Steve Berger, one of New York’s all-time great public leaders. Steve’s commitment, service, and sharp eye have never wavered. From being perhaps the first to call the City’s impending fiscal crisis, to leading the Emergency Financial Control Board, the Port Authority, the State Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century, and United States Railway Association, he has never shied away from tackling a big problem,” said Andrew Rein, President of the Citizens Budget Commission.

“I am humbled to be recognized as the recipient of the 2023 award named for Felix Rohatyn, a trailblazer for all of us who value the essential role that public servants can play in achieving a better government for all. Thank you to the Citizens Budget Commission for this award, and for always being committed to New York, its future, and clearly telling the truth, whether or not New York’s leaders want to hear it,” said Stephen Berger.

About Governor Kathy Hochul

Kathy Hochul is the 57th and first female Governor of New York State. She began her career in public service on her local Town Board, before serving as Erie County Clerk, and then as a member of Congress for New York’s 26th Congressional District.

As Lieutenant Governor from 2015 to 2021, she successfully spearheaded numerous initiatives and lead the administration’s economic development and job creation efforts across the state. She chaired the statewide Regional Economic Development Councils, and served as co-chair of the State’s Heroin and Opioid Task Force, Women’s Suffrage Commission, Child Care Availability Task Force. She also helped New York State manage the COVID-19 pandemic response, while focusing on a recovery that builds back better and more inclusive.

Since being sworn into office in 2021, Governor Hochul has proposed a bold vision for New York’s future. In her first State of the State address, she declared that this was a new era for New York, and worked with the legislature to pass a budget that included historic-level of investments in the people, places, and things that will make that happen – from healthcare workers and middle-class families to infrastructure, education, and workforce development – while funding the State’s reserves to historic levels as well. And in the wake of the Supreme Court’s reckless decisions to strip away abortion rights and strike down gun regulations, Governor Hochul led the charge in Albany to successfully pass new legislation protecting reproductive health, strengthening New York’s gun safety laws and beginning the charge to add an Equal Rights Amendment to the New York State Constitution.

Governor Hochul was born and raised in Western New York. She and her husband, Bill Hochul, are the proud parents of two children and recently became grandparents for the first time.

About Stephen Berger

The first recipient of the award and its namesake, Felix Rohatyn, was honored in 2017. Felix Rohatyn served as chairman of the New York State Municipal Assistance Corporation from 1975 to 1993 and is recognized for helping the City of New York to avoid financial ruin in the 1970s. Past Felix Rohatyn Awardees include Alair Townsend, Richard Ravitch, Stanley S. Shuman, Stanley Fischer, and Eugene Keilin.

Stephen Berger, a CBC Trustee since 1993, is a founder of Odyssey Investment Partners, LLC and was a general partner of the predecessor firm Odyssey Partners from 1993 to 1997. Previously, Mr. Berger was Executive Vice President of GE Capital Corporation and Chairman and CEO of Financial Guaranty Insurance Company, a municipal bond insurer wholly owned by GE Capital.

In Health Care, Mr. Berger was Chair of the NYS Governor’s Task Force on Health Care Reform 2003-2005, and Chair of NY State Commission on Health Care Reform in the 21st Century 2005-2006. Mr. Berger’s public service positions include: Executive Director of the New York State Study Commission on New York City (Scott Commission), and The Commission on Critical Choices for Americans under Governor Nelson Rockefeller; New York State Social Services Commissioner and Member of the Board of Social Welfare; Executive Director of the New York State Emergency Financial Control Board during NYC’s fiscal crisis; Chairman of the Finance Committee of the MTA; Executive Director of the Port Authority of NY and NJ; and chairman of the board of the United States Railway Association.

Mr. Berger serves as a Managing Director of Board of the Metropolitan Opera and member of its Finance Committee, and is a Trustee of Brandeis University. A native of New York, Mr. Berger graduated magna cum laude from Brandeis University and attended the University of Chicago on a fellowship to the Department of Political Science. He is married to Cynthia Wainwright and lives in Manhattan and Duchess County.