Career
Reilly was elected to the New York State Assembly in 2004 and re-elected in 2006. Reilly has made 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.) 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 also is pushing for further reforms in areas like campaign finance.
Reilly served as the former president of the Shaker Heritage Society and Co-Chair of the Mohawk Valley Heritage Corridor Commission. He has been 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. 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. He was formerly a cross country coach at Siena College for 17 years and is a member of Siena's Hall of Fame.
Reilly has been the primary opponent in the state assembly of bill AO 2009-C. The bill, which would legalize Mixed Martial Arts events in the state of New York, passed through his committee in spite of his arguments. He has stated in an interview that he plans to continue to fight the bill if it reaches the general assembly.
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, New York with his wife Mary.
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