ByRepresentatives Jinkins, Stokesbary, Abbarno, Abell, Barkis, Barnard, Berg, Bergquist, Bernbaum, Berry, Bronoske, Burnett, Caldier, Callan, Chase, Connors, Corry, Cortes, Couture, Davis, Dent, Doglio, Donaghy, Duerr, Dufault, Dye, Engell, Entenman, Eslick, Farivar, Fey, Fitzgibbon, Fosse, Goodman, Graham, Gregerson, Griffey, Hackney, Hill, Hunt, Jacobsen, Keaton, Klicker, Kloba, Leavitt, Lekanoff, Ley, Low, Macri, Manjarrez, Marshall, McClintock, McEntire, Mena, Mendoza, Morgan, Nance, Obras, Orcutt, Ormsby, Ortiz-Self, Parshley, Paul, Penner, Peterson, Pollet, Ramel, Reed, Reeves, Richards, Rude, Rule, Ryu, Salahuddin, Santos, Schmick, Schmidt, Scott, Shavers, Simmons, Springer, Stearns, Steele, Stonier, Street, Stuebe, Taylor, Thai, Tharinger, Thomas, Timmons, Volz, Walen, Walsh, Waters, Wylie, Ybarra, and Zahn

WHEREAS, Speaker Frank Chopp was a lifelong Washingtonian who began his fight for social justice in high school, leading a protest against the Bremerton Elks Club for refusing to allow Black members; and

WHEREAS, Chopp honored his family's roots in Croatia and in Roslyn, Washington, where his father started working in the coal mines at age 12 before becoming a union electrical worker in the shipyard in Bremerton, where his mother worked in the school cafeteria; and

WHEREAS, While at the University of Washington, he organized efforts to preserve housing for working people, co-founded the Seattle Tenants Union in 1977, and protested the demolition of low-income housing by building and living in a geodesic dome in a parking lot; and

WHEREAS, He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Washington in 1975 and was a co-lecturer on nonprofit management with his wife, Nancy Long, at the Evan's School of Public Policy and Governance from 1992 to 1995; and

WHEREAS, He worked in management positions at a community service center and several nonprofits, becoming the executive director of the Fremont Public Association (now Solid Ground) in 1983 where he developed and managed programs to provide people with food, emergency shelter, housing, housing counseling, employment services, paratransit services, and more; and

WHEREAS, He led an effort to provide over $2 billion for housing in Seattle, the effort to provide low-income housing at Magnuson Park, co-founded the Low Income Housing Institute and the Economic Opportunity Institute; helped organize collective bargaining units for office workers, home care workers, and public transit drivers; and created and participated with many projects and groups, including the Coalition for Survival Services, the Food Resources Network, the Workers Center, Lettuce Link, Community Voice Mail, and PortJOBS; and

WHEREAS, In 1994, Chopp won an election to the House of Representatives from the 43rd Legislative District, and he would serve the people of that district, and the people of the state of Washington, from January 9, 1995, until a new representative took the oath of office on January 13, 2025; and

WHEREAS, Chopp served as Minority Floor Leader, then Minority Leader, before becoming Co-Speaker of the House with Republican Clyde Ballard when the House of Representatives was tied 49-49 from 1999 to 2001; and became the sole Speaker of the House in 2002, serving a total of 20 years as Co-Speaker or Speaker until 2019, making him the longest serving speaker in state history; and

WHEREAS, Chopp made "One Washington" a guiding principle, using that phrase coined by Caucus Chair Bill Grant of Walla Walla to communicate his belief that he was responsible to the entire state of Washington and that no matter where one lives in Washington, the values and concerns we share are much stronger than those that divide us; and

WHEREAS, Chopp's ongoing legacy will be not just the many things he did but the people he inspired to serve as elected officials, legislative staff, nonprofit and community leaders, academics, and activists; and

WHEREAS, He helped organized home health care workers in an effort to get them closer to a respectable wage to pay their bills as well for care for their patients, continuing that work as a lawmaker, and living to see his daughter, Ellie, work in that same field, carrying his torch of hope and fairness; and

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives honor the life and legacy of Speaker Frank Chopp, as our state is forever changed by his leadership and his vision.