Rosa C. Rebimbas is an American politician and judge, currently serving on the Naugatuck Probate Court with jurisdiction over the towns of

Naugatuck Naugatuck ( ) is a consolidated borough and town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The town, part of the Naugatuck Valley Planning Region, had a population of 31,519 as of the 2020 Census. The town spans both sides of the Naug ...

Beacon Falls Beacon Falls is a town in western New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Naugatuck Valley Planning Region and is approximately six miles from Waterbury. It lies in the southwestern part of the state, and is bisect ...

, Middlebury, and Prospect. She previously served as a Republican member of the

Connecticut House of Representatives The Connecticut 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 each ...

from 2009 to 2023, representing the 70th District around

just south of

Waterbury Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Waterbury had a population of 114,403 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census. The city is southwest of Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford and northeast of New York City. Waterbury i ...

. 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 university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in Fairfield, Connecticut. It was founded by the Jesuits in 1942. In 2023, the university had about 5,000 full-time undergraduate students and 1,200 gra ...

. She received her

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

.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 U.S. non-governmental, and tax-exempt 501(C)(3) Christian nonprofit organization which seeks to build affordable housing. The international ...

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 served as ranking member of the powerful Judiciary Committee, and she was also a member of the Legislative Management Committee.

Judge of Probate

In 2022, rather than seeking reelection to the House of Representatives, she opted to challenge five-term incumbent Republican Peter Mariano for the position of judge of probate for the 21st (Naugatuck) district. Mariano had become controversial after being arrested for drunk driving in 2021. He plead guilty to two counts of

driving under the influence Driving under the influence (DUI) is the crime of driving, operating, or being in control of a vehicle while one is impaired from doing so safely by the effect of either alcohol (drug), alcohol (see drunk driving) or some other drug, whether re ...

and two counts of

reckless endangerment Endangerment is a type of crime involving conduct that is wrongful and reckless or wanton, and likely to produce death or grievous bodily harm to another person. There are several kinds of endangerment, each of which is a criminal act that can b ...

. His one year jail sentence was suspended after he served four days in May, 2022. Rebimbas defeated Mariano in the Republican Primary in August, receiving 57.4% of the vote. Mariano remained on the general election ballot, however, as he was still endorsed by the Democratic Party. Rebimbas won the general election on November 8th, receiving 59.8% of the vote.

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 An electoral college is a body whose task is to elect a candidate to a particular office. It is mostly used in the political context for a constitutional body that appoints the head of state or government, and sometimes the upper parliament ...

, 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 Sexting is sending, receiving, or forwarding sexually explicit messages, photographs, or videos, primarily between mobile phones. It may also include the use of a computer or any digital device. The term was first popularized early in the 21s ...

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 statistical estimate of the level of prices of goods and services bought for consumption purposes by households. It is calculated as the weighted average price of a market basket of Goods, consumer goods and ...

. 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 supreme court, highest court in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It consists of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices. The seven justices sit i ...

. 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 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 litem A legal guardian is a person who has been appointed by a court or otherwise has the legal authority (and the corresponding duty) to make decisions relevant to the personal and property interests of another person who is deemed incompetent, ca ...

s 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 women politicians Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century members of the Connecticut General Assembly