Frank Chopp

Frank Vana Chopp (born May 13, 1953) is an American politician serving as a Democratic member of the Washington House of Representatives, representing the 43rd district since 1995.

His district covers the neighborhoods of Montlake, Fremont, Wallingford, the University District, Madison Park, and part of Capitol Hill, all of which are in Seattle.

Frank Chopp was born on May 13, 1953, in Bremerton, Washington.

His father was a coal miner who moved to the shipyards and found employment as a union electrical worker and his mother, Anne, worked in a school cafeteria.

He attended East High School in Bremerton and graduated top of his class in 1971.

While still in high school, Chopp led a protest against the Elks Club's refusal to allow black members.

Since 1972, Chopp has served on over twenty nonprofit boards.

He later attended the University of Washington, graduating magna cum laude in 1975.

As a student at the University of Washington, he organized efforts to preserve low-income housing in Seattle.

To protest the demolition of low-incoming housing, Chopp lived in a geodesic dome situated in a parking lot in South Lake Union.

He is married to Nancy Long and has two children.

He lives in the Wallingford neighborhood of Seattle, Washington.

After graduating from the University of Washington, Chopp began his career as a community organizer focused on social services and education.

From 1976–1983, Chopp held various managing and directorial positions for the Cascade Community Center, the Pike Market Senior Center, and the North Community Service Center before becoming executive director of the Fremont Public Association, now known as Solid Ground, in 1983.

As executive director of the FPA, Chopp promoted services such as an emergency food bank, a clothing bank, and an employment program.

Chopp co-founded the Seattle Tenant's Union in 1977 and has been involved in efforts to organize three collective bargaining units for office workers, home care workers, and public transit drivers.

From 1992–1995, he held a part-time lecturer position at the University of Washington Graduate School of Public Affairs.

Chopp was first elected to the House in 1994.

He served as House Minority Leader from 1997–1998.

In 1999–2001, Democrats and Republicans split the House and Chopp served as Co-Speaker in the 1999-2001 legislative sessions alongside Clyde Ballard.

Chopp served as Speaker of the House from 2002 to 2019.

Chopp served as Speaker of the House from 2002 to 2019.

In 2003 Chopp voted for an operating budget Democrats later condemned as the "Rossi budget" when its architect, Republican Senator Dino Rossi, ran for governor in 2004; most of Chopp's House Democrats voted against the budget.

Chopp later served as the organization's president, and has served as senior advisor since 2006.

Chopp has been involved with a number of groups, service agencies, and programs including the Coalition for Survival Services, King County Housing Opportunity Fund, Cascade Shelter Project, the Food Resources Network, the Workers Center, Lettuce Link, Community Voice Mail, the Sand Point Community Housing Association, PortJOBS, the Committee for Economic Opportunity, and the Low Income Housing Institute.

In 2006, Chopp killed a bill requiring large employers like Wal-Mart to reimburse the state if they heavily relied upon state programs for employee health care.

Many fans of the former Seattle SuperSonics National Basketball Association franchise felt Chopp was a roadblock to keeping the team.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer columnist Art Thiel stated "Sonics fans have come to know Chopp, D-Death Star, as the No. 1 legislative opponent of public help to keep the team in Seattle."

The same thing had happened in 2007.

Chopp's action was condemned editorially by both the Seattle Times and the Post-Intelligencer (then a print newspaper).

In awarding Chopp a "Schrammie," Ken Schramm of KOMO News stated: "For the second year in a row, the Great and Mighty Speaker has had his way in killing a bill that would've provided homeowners with protection against shoddy construction."

The Post-Intelligencer asked,"Why is Democratic House Speaker Frank Chopp yet again killing a bill that would protect this state's homeowners from being on the hook for shoddy construction? It doesn't look good that Chopp has friends at the Building Industry Association of Washington, the bill's main opponent (BIAW executive VP Tom McCabe said he'd love to see Chopp run for governor)."

New owners bought out the Seattle lease and moved the team to Oklahoma City before the 2008–09 season, where the team now plays as the Thunder.

In 2008, the Democratic Senate passed a bill, 27–20, giving Washington consumers statutory warranty rights in purchasing new homes.

The bill passed the House Judiciary Committee before being denied a House floor vote by Chopp.

In 2009 Chopp killed a Worker Privacy Bill that Democrats had promised to support during their 2008 campaigns.

After a labor lobbyist warned some friends that organized labor might withhold support from Democrats, Chopp tried to have the lobbyist arrested by the Washington State Patrol; however, the Patrol exonerated the lobbyist.

By the 2017 legislative session, a faltering Chopp again faced the prospect of losing a state budget battle to Senate Republicans, as he had every session since 2003 in which Republicans were in control.

On the eve of the June 30 vote to avert a state shutdown Chopp refused to make his budget compromise public.

Prior to being elected, Chopp helped lead the campaign to approve a $50 million Low-Income Housing Levy and a $25 million Seattle Art Museum Levy.