State Senator Andrew Roraback was elected to his fifth term representing the 30th District communities of Brookfield, Canaan, Cornwall, Goshen, Kent, Litchfield, Morris, New Milford, North Canaan, Salisbury, Sharon, Torrington, Warren, Washington and Winsted in November of 2008.
Senator Roraback was elected Deputy Minority Leader Pro Tempore and Minority Caucus Chairman of the State Senate in June 2007 and is a ranking member on the General Assembly’s Finance, Revenue & Bonding Committee and Regulation Review Committee.
Senator Roraback also serves as a senior member of the Judiciary and Environment Committees, and ranking member on the Finance Committee’s General Bonding Sub-Committee.
Prior to his election to the State Senate, Senator Roraback served the people of the 64th Assembly District in the Connecticut House of Representatives from 1994 through 2000.
Since beginning his service in the General Assembly on January 4, 1995, Senator Roraback has cast 6,398 votes and has been present for every vote taken in his thirteen legislative sessions. Senator Roraback is the only member of the 187 member General Assembly who can claim this record.
Senator Roraback has been repeatedly recognized for his leadership on environmental issues. He consistently supports legislation focused on clean air and water, farmland and open space preservation, control of invasive plants, forestry management, funding for greenways and the protection of historic landscapes.
In 2007 he received the Connecticut Olmstead Award for his significant contributions in the area of environmental advocacy and stewardship.
He has been named Legislator of the Year by the Connecticut Farm Bureau Association three times and was the lead proponent of legislation that outlaws the importation and sale of certain invasive aquatic plants that pose a serious threat to Connecticut’s lakes and streams.
Senator Roraback was hailed as an “Environmental Hero” by the Connecticut League of Conservation Voters in 2004 and was also given an environmental recognition award by Audubon Connecticut in 2003.
Senator Roraback has been honored by the Working Lands Alliance, a multi-interest coalition working to preserve Connecticut’s farmland, as one of its “Legislators of the Year” for his work on behalf of farmers and in the interest of the preservation of farmland. In addition, he was awarded the Connecticut Greenways Council Recognition for his years of consistent effort to preserve open space and protect natural resources in Northwest Connecticut. Senator Roraback also takes particular pride in having received the Montgomery Hare Environmental Defender Award from the Housatonic Valley Association.
Senator Roraback is also a leading advocate for Connecticut’s non-profit sector and was named 2007 Family Legislator of the Year by the Connecticut Council of Family Service Agencies. He was honored by the Connecticut Association of Nonprofits in 2005 “for his steadfast commitment and service to Connecticut’s nonprofit sector and for making a difference in the lives of the people of Connecticut.”
Senator Roraback received a GLADD Award (Government Leader Against Drunk Driving) from Mothers Against Drunk Driving in June of 2004 for his work improving Connecticut’s drunk driving laws by referring first time offenders who are identified as chronic substance abusers to a treatment program rather than an education program.
He also successfully introduced legislation in 2003, which later became known as Stephanie’s Law, requiring drivers causing fatal accidents to submit to blood alcohol testing. He introduced the bill following the tragic death of 16-year-old Stephanie Raie Berry, who was killed by a drunken driver going the wrong way down Route 8.
Senator Roraback has also been recognized by the Connecticut Chapter of the National Alliance of the Mentally Ill for his advocacy on behalf of individuals with psychiatric disabilities.
In 2007, Senator Roraback authored and passed legislation to strengthen protections for victims of domestic violence by allowing police to issue weekend restraining orders. That year, he also worked with several of his constituents and animal welfare organizations to pass a law permitting judges to include a prohibition on harming or taking possession of a pet as a condition of a domestic violence restraining order.
A reformer committed to open and honest government, Senator Roraback was also one of twelve legislators chosen to serve on Governor M. Jodi Rell’s Campaign Finance Reform Working Group.
In 2006, Senator Roraback was named to the Aspen-Rodel Fellowship in Public Leadership as one the nation’s top young elected officials. Aspen Institute President Walter Isaacson said this year’s 24 Rodel Fellows “represent the best hope for America’s future – upcoming leaders committed to working together for the common good.”
Born March 29, 1960, in Torrington, Senator Roraback attended public schools in Torrington and Litchfield. A graduate of the Hotchkiss School, he earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree, Cum Laude, from Yale University in 1983, and his Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia Law School in 1987. He returned to Torrington in 1988 to work with his father, brother and sister at the family law firm of Roraback and Roraback, which was founded in 1883 by his great-grandfather.
Senator Roraback is married to Kara Dowling and they reside with their son Andrew Kevin in Goshen.
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