State Sen. Dale Righter (R-Mattoon) will serve on the Legislative Public Safety Group, after being appointed by Senate Republican Leader Bill Brady March 20.
The Legislative Public Safety Group is a bipartisan group of lawmakers from both the Senate and House who are tasked with working with Gov. Bruce Rauner’s Administration to develop legislative proposals to support various public safety issues. These include school safety, mental health, interstate crime prevention, repeat gun offenders, concentrated crime force deployments, and economic revitalization.
“This is an opportunity for both sides to come to the table, have meaningful discussions, and craft good public policy that will not only make our communities safer, but ones that are constitutional and don’t trample on the rights of our citizens,” Righter said. “I believe there are ways we can do that, and I am thankful this Legislative Public Safety Group will now force my Democrat colleagues to finally have that conversation instead of going it alone on legislation after legislation that doesn’t solve problems and only adds to the noise coming out of Springfield.
“I want to be clear – good, common-sense laws can help curb violence, but only on the surface. No law from Springfield and Washington D.C. can ever address the root of this issue – that being the ability of young people to positively touch the lives of their peers. That notion is far more important than a new policy. The true answers to curbing violence lies in our communities, schools, and homes,” Righter said. “It’s right there in front of us, and we don’t have to wait on elected officials. Every one of us plays a role in this. Let’s ensure horrific headlines never appear again.”
