Frank Chopp, a force that reshaped Washington's political landscape

Yahoo

2 days ago

House Speaker Frank Chopp delivering remarks in the House of Representatives on Jan. 11, 2016, the first day of the legislative session. (Photo courtesy of Legislative Support Services)
Frank Chopp, a citizen activist who became the state of Washington's longest-serving House speaker, spent a half-century relentlessly agitating for social change.
It seemed fitting then that Chopp, who died in March, would deliver a final call for action to hundreds attending his memorial service in Bellevue on Sunday.
'We have made so much progress, but let us also remember how lucky we are,' he says in a taped excerpt of a speech on the opening day of a legislative session. 'None of us go without a paycheck, none of us go hungry, none of us go homeless, none of us lack health care, none of us lack the opportunity to get an education.'
'The people we represent just want what we have,' he said. 'So we have a lot to do. Let's get to work.'
Applause and cheers erupted through the crowd of lawmakers past and present, community leaders, current and former governors, and family friends gathered in the Meydenbauer Center to celebrate Chopp, whose death March 22 at the age of 71 stunned them, coming less than three months after his political retirement.
For two hours, they told stories and paid tribute to the mustachioed maestro of politics, a streetwise and strategic solon who sought no higher office than the Seattle legislative seat he occupied for three decades. A Democrat, he managed to be both high-profile and behind the scenes, fomenting change without leaving visible fingerprints.
'With Speaker Chopp, we witnessed a rare fusion: the heart of an organizer, the strategy of a legislator and the savvy of a political mastermind,' said Teresa Mosqueda, a King County Council member. 'Frank blended these elements into a force that reshaped our social contract.'
Former Gov. Jay Inslee said Chopp's blend of personal passion and strategic ability was the 'rocket fuel' that drove significant housing, health care and social justice policies across the finish line.
Though only one person with one vote, his role in pushing the state to strengthen the social safety net, build affordable housing and improve public schools is unmatched, they said.
'Frank Chopp was the greatest legislator in the last century. Period,' proclaimed Lt. Gov. Denny Heck, a close friend and fellow Democrat.
Chopp had two North Stars.
There was his family: Nancy Long, his wife of 41 years, and Ellie and Narayan, their children. Chopp would tear up when he'd mention them on the House floor, for they were his touchstone.
He was 'an equal partner at home,' doing the laundry and shopping and 'showing up for the small stuff,' Long recounted. Amid the steady seriousness of the job, she said he was funny and 'sometimes downright goofy.'
His other North Star was adapting government to serve the state's most vulnerable.
'His daily focus from the time he was in college to the very day he died was improving the lives of others,' Long said. 'Frank started with no connections, no positional power, no money, no real standing. What he had were these very adaptive personal traits, a very solid understanding of history, a curious and amazingly agile mind and a total disregard for the status quo.'
Chopp was first elected to represent Seattle's 43rd Legislative District in 1994, an election that proved catastrophic for many other Democrats. His party lost more than two dozen seats, going from a near supermajority in the House to a 62-36 minority.
He ascended to leader of the House Democratic Caucus and, in 1999, became co-speaker with Republican Clyde Ballard of East Wenatchee when there were equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans in the House.
Democrats won a special election in Snohomish County in 2001 to gain control of the chamber and installed Chopp as speaker in 2002, a job he kept until stepping aside in 2019. He won two more elections before retiring last year.
Chopp understood persistence and patience could achieve lasting progress while impatience could trigger a political recoil.
'He believed it only mattered to be right if you were getting results,' Long said.
As speaker, Chopp's sometimes cautious approach, or pragmatism, depending on one's perspective, incited the pique of the caucus' more caffeinated progressives.
'He was not an incrementalist,' declared Mosqueda, who emceed the portion of the memorial devoted to building on Chopp's legislative and political legacy. 'He knew that bold, progressive victories require smart, strategic steps. He was relentless in his drive to dismantle inequity, and his strategies were thus layered and often multi-year.'
Inslee said Chopp recognized the potential that a temporary victory could derail policies and cause Democrats to lose seats.
'He made sure that we didn't get too far out ahead of the people,' he said.
Chopp was the grandson of Croatian immigrants. His father began working in the Roslyn coal mines at age 12 and later became a union electrician at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. His mother served as a school cafeteria employee. She left school at 14 to work but earned her high school diploma from Green River Community College at age 65, according to his obituary.
He grew up in Bremerton and graduated from the University of Washington. He served several years as executive director of the Fremont Public Association, now known as Solid Ground, which offers resources such as food banks, housing and employment programs.
In his 30 years as a lawmaker, he focused heavily on housing and homelessness, working to increase the amount of affordable housing across the state, improve access to homeownership and house people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
He helped start the Seattle Tenants Union and the Cascade Shelter Project, living in a geodesic dome in a rented parking stall to bring attention to the need for affordable housing in the area.
He helped lead efforts to set up the state's Housing Trust Fund and its Apple Health and Homes program, which uses Medicaid dollars to fund housing. Creation of the state's covenant homeownership program was one of the crowning achievements of his tenure.
Chopp also pushed policies to expand behavioral health care facilities, child care access and student financial aid for more Washingtonians.
Yona Makowski, a longtime budget analyst with the House Democratic Caucus, said Chopp was 'willing to break tradition and adapt government procedures' to achieve broader objectives.
'I'll lose my composure if I talk about what Frank meant to me,' she said, instead offering what her family members thought of him. 'They knew him from me talking about him at the dinner table.'
'My son thought he was a great strategist in getting meaningful things done to help disadvantaged people. My daughter compared him to the Wizard of Oz behind the curtain, but if the wizard was actually the hero,' Makowski said. 'And lastly, my late husband perhaps said it best, Frank was a very good man.'