Rep Rebimbas: Sexting Law is Proactive

Representative Rosa C. Rebimbas (R-70) thanked her colleagues in the House early Sunday morning after they unanimously passed a sexting bill by a 137-0 margin.

Sexting, defined as possession and dissemination of nude or semi-nude images via an electronic device, has become more prevalent in recent years with the explosion of cell phone cameras and digital cameras.

“Sexting has become a very serious problem with our teens and young adults and the legislature showed today they recognize the implications of that type of behavior,” Rep. Rebimbas said.  “I’m proud the legislation I spearheaded will provide an alternative for minors in a consensual relationship who send such messages but leaves the stricter penalties in place for those who fall under those criteria.”

House Bill 5533, “An Act Concerning Sexting” creates a lesser category for punishment for minors who are thirteen years of age or older but under eighteen years of age, who may knowingly possess and transmit any visual depiction of nude or semi-nude images by means of an electronic communication device. State law currently treats possession of such images as child pornography.  Possession of child pornography is a felony and those convicted are forced to register as a sexual offender. This bill would make possession of such images a class A misdemeanor for teens between 13 and 18 years of age if the facts of the case determine it should be a lesser threshold.

“Today, Connecticut took a proactive role to both protect and teach our teens about the consequences of their decisions,” Rep. Rebimbas said.  “We did not wait for another tragic story in order to pass a good law.  Instead, we took the opportunity to update our penal code by incorporating electronic communication devices.”

Rep. Rebimbas and House Republicans Unveil 2011 Budget Plan

Rep. Rebimbas and Fellow Republicans Reveal a Common Sense Budget on tax day erasing $736 million 2011 deficit without raising taxes.

See a video clip from the news conference. Download a copy of the Republicans’ budget presentation shown at the news conference.

Representative Rosa Rebimbas (R-70) stood with her colleagues Thursday and pledged support for the House Republican 2011 budget that erases the $736 million deficit for 2011.

The balanced Republican plan preserves municipal and school aid, establishes a $74.5 million job creation program and eliminates the Business Entity Tax on all companies without raising taxes.

The plan is accomplished by consolidating government agencies and shrinking the public workforce through an early retirement program while still committing $74 million to stimulate job growth.  In addition, Companies that hire the unemployed can earn $17.5 million in tax credits, and the plan establishes a $25 million small business revolving loan fund

“We’re running out of time to make the difficult decisions that will save our state millions of dollars and close the deficit,” Rep. Rebimbas said.  “The time for action is now, before the bill comes due; not after the November elections.”

The hallmarks of the savings:

• $58 million in line item cuts to 2009 levels;
• $64 million in early retirement for state workers;
• $10 million in state agency consolidations;
• $6.4 million to shed state office leases; 
• $20 million in privatization of state functions;
• $150 million in state worker concessions, including wage freezes, furlough days and health care;
• $3.8 million in legislative pay cuts, elimination of franked mail and travel.

The budget also makes significant investments in job creation and retirement security:

• $200 million will be paid into the state employee pensions;
• The Business Entity Tax is eliminated to save companies $32 million;
• A Small Business Revolving Loan Fund of $25 million is created;
• Tax credits of up to $17.5 million will be available to companies that hire off unemployment rolls.

Rep. Rebimbas Supports “Sexting” Legislation

Representative Rosa C. Rebimbas (R-70) testifies in support of proposed “sexting” legislation before the Judiciary Committee Monday morning.

Sexting, defined as transmission and dissemination of nude or semi-nude images via phone or e-mail, has become more prevalent in recent years with the explosion of cell phone cameras and digital cameras.

House Bill 5533, “An Act Concerning Sexting” creates a lesser category for punishment for minors who are thirteen years of age or older but under eighteen years of age, who may knowingly possess and transmit any visual depiction of child pornography by means of an electronic communication device. State law currently treats possession of such images as child pornography.  Possession of child pornography is a felony and those convicted are forced to register as a sexual offender. This bill would make it a class A misdemeanor instead.

“Ignorance of the law is not a defense for violating the law,” Rep. Rebimbas said. “However, at times children do foolish acts without understanding the consequences.  This proposed bill allows the punishment to fit the crime and provides another option for prosecutors to hold minors accountable for their actions.”

The concept of this bill was created after many discussions with a variety of law enforcement officials, including members of the CT computer crimes unit, some State’s attorneys, and numerous students, parents and school administrators at public informational forums.

This bill is important in updating our penal code by incorporating electronic communication devices and identifying unlawful acts that minor children are committing without knowing it.  This bill takes a proactive role in recognizing the devastation our minor children would face if they were convicted under the current child pornography law.

Watch a video of her testimony.

Rep. Rebimbas reads to school children

Representative Rosa Rebimbas (R-70) pushed through tongue-twisting terminology and spent Friday morning reading a classic children’s story to several classes of students during Read Across America Day in Naugatuck.

Rep. Rebimbas read the Dr. Seuss favorite “The Cat In The Hat” to more than 100 children in four classrooms at Central Avenue and Salem Elementary School.  When she finished she donated a copy of the featured book to each class along with coloring booklets loaded with Connecticut facts to each student.

“I’m happy to be able to spend time reading to our school children,” Rep. Rebimbas said.  “Reading is such an important part of learning, whether it’s a history book, mathematics problem or a classic work of children’s literature. Promoting literacy at an early age sets kids up to succeed in the future.”

“The teachers and administrators in our public schools do a great job preparing our children and I am always impressed at how attentive the students are,” Rep. Rebimbas said.  

Launched by the National Education Association in 1998, Read Across America Day involves more than 3.2 million teachers, librarians, athletes, celebrities, politicians, business professionals and everyday people reading to an estimated 45 million children in 2010.

For more information about this great event please visit www.nea.org/readacross

To watch a video of this event click here.