Biography

Bob Reilly was initially elected to the New York State Assembly in 2004 and re-elected in 2006. Reilly considers himself a “citizen legislator” because of his commitment to public service and accessibility to his community.

Assemblyman Reilly defines his service through three pledges: 1) to be a legislator loyal to his constituents, not a political party; 2) to visit each neighborhood in the district twice a year; and 3) to donate his entire Assembly salary to charity.

To date Reilly has donated nearly $145,000 to local charitable organizations. Some of the groups throughout Colonie, Clifton Park, and Halfmoon that have received funding include: Capital Region Action Against Breast Cancer, The Catie Hoch Foundation, Colonie Senior Service Centers, Inc., Down Syndrome Resource Center, Inc., Food Pantries for the Capital District, Gilda's Club Capital Region New York, Inc., Mechanicville Area Community Service Center Inc., NYSARC - Saratoga County Association for Retarded Citizens, and Shenendehowa Senior Citizens, Inc.

Reilly also works to reform state government. During his first two terms in office, the Legislature passed the first two on-time budgets in 21 years, brought reform to the budget process, ethics and lobbying practices and public authorities, and enacted a new law that will provide greater public disclosure of state contracts. Reilly considers this a great start, but is pushing for further reforms in areas like campaign finance.

Reilly also worked on other issues to help make our community – and state – a better place. He has focused efforts to improve education and health care funding. As a result he has succeeded in increasing state aid to education to area schools by nearly $11 million, and has fought to restore nearly $29 million in funding to hospitals and nursing homes around the capital region. In addition, he has helped ease the burden of taxes on our working families by supporting programs like Middle Class STAR, sponsoring the $150 rebates to Clifton Park residents, and securing over $4 billion in tax relief for New York State.

Reilly also helped pass laws to keep our families safe from crime, specifically sexual predators. He has sponsored the new civil commitment law as well as other laws that expand the DNA database and that eliminate the criminal statute of limitations on rape.

An active and involved member of the community, Bob Reilly served as the former president of the Shaker Heritage Society and Co-Chair of the Mohawk Valley Heritage Corridor Commission. He has been appointed by the Secretary of the Interior as a Board Member of the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor Commission. Reilly was a high school teacher for ten years, including two years in Uganda, East Africa. He is the retired director of the New York State Education Department’s Office of Public Broadcasting. In 2006, he sold his small business of 30 years, the Partridge Pub.

Additionally, he shared his love of running as a cross country coach at Siena College for 17 years and is a member of the college’s Hall of Fame. He also demonstrates his commitment to open space preservation and agriculture by raising Kerry cattle, a rare heritage breed.

Reilly is a 1961 graduate of the University of Notre Dame, where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree and received his Masters from the College of Saint Rose. He completed all coursework for a Ph.D. at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Reilly resides in Latham with his wife Mary.