Background
Righter, Dale A. was born on August 23, 1966 in Mattoon, Illinois, United States.
Righter, Dale A. was born on August 23, 1966 in Mattoon, Illinois, United States.
He attended Mattoon High School and in 1988 graduated from Eastern Illinois University with a bachelor of science in accounting.
The 55th district includes Clay, Clark, Coles, Crawford, Cumberland, Edwards, Effingham, Jasper, Lawrence, Richland, Wabash, Wayne and White counties in the southeastern corner of the state. In 1991, Righter earned his law degree from the Saint Louis University School of Law. After law school, he took a job as a drug crimes prosecutor with the State's Attorney’s Appellate Prosecutor’ General’ s Office.
In November 1997, Righter was appointed to represent the 106th district in the Illinois House of Representatives after Mike Weaver resigned to accept an appointment to the Illinois Industrial Commission (since renamed the Illinois Workers" Compensation Commission).
In 2001, he announced he was running for state senate in the newly created 55th district which included Lawrence, Crawford, Clark, Cumberland, Edgar, Coles, Douglas and Piatt counties as well as parts of Champaign, Effingham, Shelby and Wabash counties. Legislative Initiatives
During his time in the, Righter has spearheaded legislative initiatives on a wide variety of issues, including economic development, school funding, health care and governmental accountability.
Additionally, he sponsored legislation expanding newborn screening in Illinois to better utilize current medical advances for the health of infants and their families. Measures to expand the Freedom of Information Acting so taxpayers better know how their tax dollars are spent.
And laws promoting the use of ethanol and other renewable fuels.
In 2016, he introduced a bill to cut funding for universities, including the university he represents (EIU), by 20%. Committee Assignments
Righter serves on the following committees: Appropriations II, Criminal Law, Environment and Conservation, Human Services and Revenue. He also serves on the Human Services Subcommittee on Special Issues and the Criminal Law Committee"s Subcommittee on CLEAR Compliance.
He was previously a member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 1997 through 2002.
Married Teresa Righter. 2 children.