Rosa C. Rebimbas is a Republican member of the

Connecticut House of Representatives The Connecticut State House of Representatives is the lower house in the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The house is composed of 151 members representing an equal number of districts, with ...

since 2009, representing the 70th District around Naugatuck just south of Waterbury. She is the owner/sole proprietor of ''The Law Offices of Rosa C. Rebimbas'', a general law firm in Naugatuck, Connecticut.

Education and personal life

Rebimbas received her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Secondary Education along with a minor in Faith, Peace and Justice from

Fairfield University Fairfield University is a private Jesuit university in Fairfield, Connecticut. It was founded by the Jesuits in 1942. In 2017, the university had about 4,100 full-time undergraduate students and 1,100 graduate students, including full-time a ...

. She received her

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice l ...

from the

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at the

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.State Representative Rosa Rebimbas
About
/ref> She is a former president of the

Habitat for Humanity Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI), generally referred to as Habitat for Humanity or Habitat, is a US non-governmental, and nonprofit organization which was founded in 1976 by couple Millard and Linda Fuller. Habitat for Humanity is a C ...

of Greater Waterbury.Project Vote Smart - Rep. Rebimbas
/ref>

Legal career

In addition to legislative work, Rebimbas is a practicing lawyer in Naugatuck, Connecticut, where she founded ''The Law Offices of Rosa C. Rebimbas'' in 2007. This is a general law office doing real estate, personal injury, immigration, criminal defense and family law. As a family lawyer, she has served on the Board of Directors for the Guardian Ad Litem Services.

Political career

Rebimbas is a former member of the Naugatuck Finance Board and the Water Pollution Board, and a member of the Naugatuck Republican Town Committee. In a district where democrats outnumber republicans 2:1, she entered the Connecticut House of Representatives in 2009 after winning a low turnout special election, beating Democrat Kevin McSherry with a margin of 78 votes.BallotPedia
Rosa Rebimbas
Republican American, February 17, 2019. With 100% of the votes, she was reelected to the House in 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018, always running unopposed in both the republican primary and in the general election. She serves as ranking member of the powerful Judiciary Committee, and she is also a member of the Legislative Management Committee.

Political views

National Popular Vote

When Connecticut became the 12th state to join the National Popular Vote Compact, to guarantee that presidential candidate with the most vote nationwide would be elected president by the Electoral College, Rebimbas was one of the Connecticut House members voting against.

Sexting

In 2010, Rebimbas attracted national attention when she introduced a bill that would lessen the penalty for sexting between two consenting minors, making it a Class A misdemeanor rather than a felony to send or receive text messages that include nude or sexual images. As a felony, violators could end up on the state's sex offender registry. Rebimbas appeared on Fox & Friends and CNN to talk about the bill, and she was also highlighted in several newspapers.

Taxes

To get a refund of the sales tax, a purchase has to be returned within 90 days. Rebimbas has sponsored legislation to eliminate this 90 day requirement.

Transportation

Rebimbas has sponsored a 2019 bill that would make it unlawful to drive in the extreme-left lane on state highways unless passing another car or being directed by the police to do so.

Wages

In 2013, Rebimbas voted against a bill that raised the minimum wage to $8.70, and in 2014 against another bill that gradually raised the minimum wage to $9.15 by 2015, $9.60 by 2016 and $10.10 by 2017. In 2017, Rebimbas sponsored legislation to amend the collective bargaining statutes to limit binding arbitration awards to not more than the

Consumer Price Index A consumer price index (CPI) is a price index, the price of a weighted average market basket of consumer goods and services purchased by households. Changes in measured CPI track changes in prices over time. Overview A CPI is a statisti ...

. The bill died in committee, so she reintroduced it in 2019.

The ''Cold heart'' controversy

In 2015 there was a testy exchange between Rebimbas and a woman that was testifying concerning the contentious re-appointment of Chase T. Rogers as chief justice for the

Connecticut Supreme Court The Connecticut Supreme Court, formerly known as the Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors, is the highest court in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It consists of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices. The seven justices sit in Hartford, a ...

. Rebimbas supported the reappointment while the witness was part of a court reform movement concerned about the family court system, the probate courts and the foreclosure process. After the exchange, a private email leaked where representative

Minnie Gonzalez Minnie Gonzalez (born August 4, 1950) is an American politician who has been a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives since 1997, serving the 3rd district in Hartford. She is the Deputy Majority Leader since 2017. Personal life Go ...

consoled the witness and wrote that Rebimbas was ''fighting for her pocket not for the people like you'' and that she is ''cold with no heart''. Being upset about the name-calling in the email, Rebimbas and the republicans closed down the operations of the judiciary committee on its last day of business, preventing a number of bills to reach the House floor for a vote that year.

Awards and honors

Rebimbas has received many awards and honors. In October 2018 she was recognized as a co-legislators of the year by the ''Associated Builders and Contractors of Connecticut''. The same month she also received the Superhero Award from the ''Children’s Law Center of Connecticut'', a group of lawyers that represent children as guardian ad litems in family court.State Representative Rosa Rebimbas
Newsroom
October, 2018.

External links

Official State Representative WebsiteProject Vote Smart profileHabitat for Humanity of Greater WaterburyThe Law Offices of Rosa C. Rebimbas, LLC Website

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rebimbas, Rosa Living people Republican Party members of the Connecticut House of Representatives Fairfield University alumni Women state legislators in Connecticut People from Naugatuck, Connecticut 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians Year of birth missing (living people)