Amabile co-founded the company Polar Bottle and has served in the Colorado House since first winning election in 2019. She serves as chair of the House Business Affairs and Labor Committee. Her son has been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and has experienced homelessness. Having witnessed the state’s inadequate mental health care system firsthand, she said she was inspired to run for the state legislature. She has backed legislation to spend more money on mental health care, regulate solitary confinement in county jails, and, more recently, make it easier to build accessory dwelling units, or ADUs.
Her major endorsements include Congressman Joe Neguse, Gov. Jared Polis, Senate President Steve Fenberg, Mayor Aaron Brockett, House Speaker Julie McCluskie and House Majority Leader Monica Duran. She is also backed by Moms Demand Action, Boulder Progressives, YIMBY Denver and several local unions.
Her opponent in the Democratic primary is Jovita Schiffer.
Why are you running for the state legislature?
I’m running for the State Senate because I have the policy and political experience to pass progressive legislation that makes a positive difference for the people of District 18 and all Coloradans. In two House terms, I have brought effective solutions to bear on issues like mental health care, gun safety, climate action, environmental protection, reproductive rights, the economy, criminal justice reforms, housing, education, and more. I am proud of my work to address issues impacting Colorado’s most vulnerable and forgotten residents, including incarcerated people, and those suffering from serious mental illnesses. If elected to the Senate, I will continue to work on hard problems, build coalitions, and advance good legislation that the Governor will sign into law.
What distinguishes you from your primary opponent?
Experience and a proven track record of leadership success.
The issue of homelessness played a central role in Boulder’s municipal election in 2023. Yet, homelessness is influenced by factors outside a city’s control, such as the high cost of living and lack of mental health treatment capacity. What would you do at the state level to address homelessness in cities like Boulder?
I am working hard at the state level on many aspects of this issue. Inadequate treatment of serious mental illness can lead to cycles of homelessness, crime, jail and deaths of despair. I have worked in the legislature to bring more resources to treatment, and to disentangle mental illness from the criminal justice system, which can also lead to homelessness. I worked hard to direct millions in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars toward more treatment capacity (coming online slowly but surely). I’ve passed innovative bills to expand Colorado’s mental health workforce. I’ve brought multiple bills to try and address Colorado’s broken competency-to-proceed system, where a persistent backlog of defendants with mental illness waits in jail without treatment. I want to expand on these successes in the Senate. I will continue to advocate for policies that disentangle mental illness from incarceration. I will continue advocating with Boulder County to pass a dedicated mental health tax and create the medical infrastructure needed to provide people with the treatment they need. I passed a study bill to consider involuntary care in the most extreme cases, similar to California’s CARE courts. That study was recently completed. I want to build on this legislation in the Senate.
In the 2023 city election, Boulder elected its mayor using a form of ranked-choice voting. Proponents of this voting method want to extend it to elect candidates for the Boulder City Council. They argue that to do this, state lawmakers must mandate the Colorado Secretary of State to establish new regulations enabling the city and county to conduct elections using a multi-winner form of ranked-choice voting. Would you support such legislation? Why or why not?
Yes. I supported HB21-1071, which allowed municipalities to use ranked-choice voting in nonpartisan Colorado municipal elections. The bill passed. I will support legislation that expands on local governments ability to use other innovative voting methods if they choose.
Earlier this year, lawmakers passed the “just cause” eviction bill, marking a significant legal change in renters’ rights. Some lawmakers want to further these protections by repealing a Colorado law that prohibits cities like Boulder from capping rent increases, a measure they believe would improve housing affordability. What are your thoughts on repealing this law?
I supported the bill last year to allow local control of rent stabilization. I will likely support legislation allowing local governments to pass rent stabilization policies going forward.
Last session, lawmakers introduced a bill that would have required state regulators to stop issuing new oil and gas drilling permits by 2030, in line with global commitments to zero out fossil fuel emissions responsible for global warming by midcentury. Gov. Jared Polis and many Democratic legislators were skeptical of the bill, and it was ultimately voted down in committee. What are your thoughts on restricting oil and gas drilling in Colorado for climate and public health reasons?
SB24-159 would have banned all new oil and gas drilling in Colorado by 2030. If that bill had passed the Senate and made it to the House, I would have voted yes. I also signed on to a ballot measure to do that this year. I also supported a compromise that was reached by the legislature, the oil and gas industry, and environmental groups to tighten air quality regulations and raise funding for transit projects by increasing the severance tax on fossil fuel extraction.