Dan Pabon

Colorado Future Caucus, Emeritus co-Chair (D)

After serving eight years in the Colorado House of Representatives, Dan brings a national level of expertise of policy and political insight into a variety of issues.  He served in House leadership for seven of those eight years as Deputy Whip, Assistant Majority Leader, Speaker Pro Tempore, and Chair of the House Finance Committee.  During his tenure he served on Appropriations, Business Affairs and Labor, Finance, Judiciary, Redistricting and Amendment 64 Committees. As a recognized Colorado leader, Representative Pabon has championed thoughtful technology legislation, voting rights expansion, consumer protections for senior citizens, equal access to quality education for all Coloradans, and transparency and efficiency in government.

In 2012, the voters of Colorado voted to allow recreational marijuana in that state.  Pabon was appointed to Governor Hickenlooper’s task force for implementation.  Dan chaired the regulatory framework working group which established the first regulated cannabis system in the world.  Pabon chaired the Joint Select Committee on the Implementation of Amendment 64 and authored and sponsored the first three bills that put the system into law.  He has since worked on dozens of tweaks and changes to the model which has been adopted by most jurisdictions in the U.S., Canada, and the world.

As a result of his work, Representative Pabon has been recognized as a rising star by MSNBC, has been named the People’s Choice Legislator by Colorado Law Week, named as a Rising Star by Colorado Super Lawyer magazine, named Democrat of the Year by the Denver Democratic Party, and served on of President Barack Obama’s Presidential Transition Team in 2008 and 2009.  He was named a Rodel Fellow by the Aspen Institute in 2016.  In 2018, Pabon also received the National Legislator of Year Award presented by the National Hispanic Conference of State Legislators.

Originally from North Denver, Pabon has been honored to represent the community he grew up in and will still have a residence there. He enjoys spending time with his wife, Heather, and two children, Alec, 5 and Arica, 3. A graduate of the University of Colorado, Pabon received degrees in both mechanical engineering and law.