a part-time lecturer position at the University of Washington Graduate School of Public Affairs. Since 1972, Chopp has served on over twenty nonprofit boards. Politics 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 2002–2019. Issues 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. 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." 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. 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)." 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