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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEDate: June 30, 2011

STATEMENT FROM SAM HOYTREGARDING HIS RESIGNATION

Dear Friends:Governor Cuomo has offered me an exciting and important opportunity within hisadministration, a senior position with the Empire State Development Corporation, about whichmore details will be available tomorrow. I have accepted his offer with enthusiasm, whichnecessarily means that I will also be stepping down after 19 years of service in the New York State Assembly. After the most productive legislative session I have experienced – both for me personally and the Legislature as a whole – I can hardly imagine a better moment to make thistransition. The last few hours of this last session were by far the most thrilling I have been a partof in all of my years in the Assembly. I was proud to help Governor Cuomo pass key elements of his legislative agenda including SUNY 2020, the strongest property tax cap in the nation, andmost historically, marriage equality for all New Yorkers, an issue I have advocated for years.While the work of the Legislature will never be finished, this session marks the successfulcompletion of many of the projects I have worked on throughout my career. One of my primarygoals has always been revitalizing our upstate cities, with a focus, of course, on Buffalo. In the past three years, I have authored and passed into law three bills in particular that I believe willhave a transformational impact on our upstate cities. They are the Historic Rehabilitation TaxCredit, the State's first Smart Growth law, and most recently the Land Bank bill that was passed by both houses just two weeks ago. These three pieces of legislation have the potential to make asignificant impact on the repopulation and revitalization of Upstate New York.Over the past 19 years, I have worked hard to represent the interests of the people of the 144

District, not just in Albany but here at home as well. For me, elected office has been about morethan legislation alone. It has been about helping the people in my district when they need it themost, and about making Buffalo a better place to live and work. Over the years, that has meantthings like helping protect and preserve the historic H. H. Richardson Complex, stopping theclosure of Children's Hospital, and fighting for community-driven projects like the Jesse KregalBike Path along Scajacquada Creek and Black Rock Canal Park. It has also meant hours andhours of constituent service, helping the people of Western New York straighten out bureaucratic problems with Medicaid or unemployment insurance, lending a hand to block clubs in their efforts to clean up problem properties in their neighborhoods, and fighting to ensure that aboveall, the government works for the people.Of course in my duties as a Legislator, I have also worked hard for my legislative successes.From the Protections for Health Care Workers Act to the Local Government Consolidation Lawto Race to the Top education reform to the Main Street Grants Program and more, I haveconsistently fought for economic and social justice legislation that would benefit all New