About Judy

Representative Judy Amabile has served as a State Representative in the Colorado General Assembly since 2020, where she has sponsored a strong slate of progressive and pragmatic bills, including measures to increase mental health resources, improve the criminal justice system, increase gun safety, and make communities more resilient in the face of wildfires fueled by the climate crisis. 

 

Rep. Amabile moved to Colorado as a child and is passionately devoted to the state and its people. Throughout her life and business career, she has helped bring real solutions to bear on significant challenges. 

 

She co-founded, owned and for 25 years operated  Polar Bottle, a business that manufactures sport water bottles.
Rep. Amabile’s son developed a serious mental illness at the age 18. She was inspired to seek public office after experiencing our broken mental health care system firsthand. Managing a growing business, caring for up to 65 employees, and parenting three boys has informed every part of her life and work in the General Assembly. 

 

Rep. Amabile’s leadership roles in the House are reflected in her committee, caucus, and commission memberships:

• Chair of the Business Affairs & Labor Committee

• Member of the House Appropriations Committee 

• Member of the House Public & Behavioral Health & Human Services Committee

• Chair of the Legislative Oversight Committee — Colorado Jail Standards Commission 

• Chair of the Legislative Oversight Committee — Treatment of Persons with Mental Health Disorders in the Criminal and Juvenile Justice System Committee

• Member of the Behavioral Health Transformational Task Force

 

In 2023, Rep. Amabile was recognized by an array of community organizations, reflecting the diversity of her legislative leadership:

•  2023 Community Behavioral Health Champion — Colorado Behavioral Healthcare Council

• 2023 Legislative Champion - Young Invincibles

• Care Access Award Winner - Healthier Colorado

• Bridging the Gap Champion - Healthier Colorado

• Legislative MVP - Colorado Chamber of Commerce

• 2023 Advocacy Award - Suicide Prevention Coalition of Colorado

 

Rep. Amabile’s notable legislative achievements in 2023 include: 

 

Leadership on Gun Safety Reforms

Representative Amabile was a lead legislator on four gun safety bills that expand the state’s red flag law, raise the minimum age to purchase all guns to 21, impose a three-day waiting period on firearm purchases and make it easier for people to sue the gun industry.She was a primary sponsor of the measure mandating a three-day waiting period for all gun purchases and transfers. 

 

Leadership on Mental Health

Continuing to unravel deeply entrenched problems that have created Colorado’s mental health crisis, Representative Amabile worked closely with state leaders and human services advocates. To increase Colorado’s network of mental health care providers, she brought a bill forward that provides highly trained psychologists with limited prescribing authority. Among other successful measures, she carried the Pathways to Care bill, which funds a study to forge treatment pathways for Coloradans with the most serious mental and behavioral health issues. Along with many other policies, she co-sponsored a measure to make in-school mental health assessments and therapy available to our young people.

 

Leadership on Criminal Justice Reform

Representative Amabile worked to address public safety by focusing on the social determinants of crime and bringing key policies forward to reduce recidivism. Her work includes successful bills to improve Colorado’s competency backlog in both the adult and juvenile criminal justice systems. Her bill to make phone calls free in Colorado prisons is based on research showing improved communications create better outcomes for everyone — incarcerated people, their children, and corrections staff. Representative Amabile worked closely with advocates to limit the barbaric use of four-point metal restraints in Colorado prisons. She sponsored a bill to help parents and kids stay connected during a parent's incarceration. She also brought a bill to allow alternative sentencing options for pregnant and postpartum people.

 

Leadership on Climate Resilience

Colorado families who have lost their homes in recent wildfires are doubly injured when they find out their home was underinsured. Representative Amabile took on this complex issue, sponsoring a successful bill to provide consumers with more transparency to ensure they are fully covered. Relatedly, she responded to the growing lack of insurance availability in wildfire prone areas of the state, bringing a measure forward to provide homeowners with a last resort state insurance plan. She co-sponsored a tax exemption for construction and building materials for homeowners rebuilding after a wildfire disaster, including the ability to retroactively claim a refund. 

 

Leadership on Environmental Protection

Notable environmental policy work by Representative Amabile during the 2023 session included:

• Co-sponsoring legislation to strengthen Colorado's greenhouse gas reduction targets, including a 30% state income tax credit to incentivize the purchase of electric-powered lawn equipment. 

• Bringing a measure to study workforce transitions when jobs are lost in the oil and gas industry as clean energy sectors expand. 

• Co-sponsoring a bill to put Colorado tax dollars to work  advancing decarbonization. 

• Co-sponsoring a number of wide ranging water policies to make Colorado more resilient to drought and improve water quality. 

• Co-sponsoring a bill that forbid investor-owned utility companies from using ratepayer money to fund political-influence efforts. 

• Co-sponsoring legislation to improve Colorado’s air quality. A trimmed down version of this bill passed after the original bill failed to gain the Governor’s support. Representative Amabile hopes to meet with environmental groups during the interim to consider new strategies to tackle ozone and other air pollutants and address this urgent issue.