{"id":26041,"date":"2019-05-09T13:30:00","date_gmt":"2019-05-09T20:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.redmond-reporter.com\/opinion\/in-state-house-one-historic-era-ends-and-another-begins\/"},"modified":"2019-05-09T13:30:00","modified_gmt":"2019-05-09T20:30:00","slug":"in-state-house-one-historic-era-ends-and-another-begins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.redmond-reporter.com\/opinion\/in-state-house-one-historic-era-ends-and-another-begins\/","title":{"rendered":"In state House, one historic era ends and another begins"},"content":{"rendered":"
OLYMPIA — The Frank Chopp era is over.<\/p>\n
Washington’s longest-serving speaker of the state House of Representatives quietly exited on Friday from the seat of power he occupied through two decades.<\/p>\n
The Seattle Democrat, who evolved into one of the most dominant political forces in state history during his reign, submitted a short resignation note to the chief clerk, collected a few last belongings and by early afternoon had cleared out of the office.<\/p>\n
And the John Lovick era began.<\/p>\n
That same Friday afternoon workers scraped Chopp’s name from the door and put up Lovick’s along with the title Acting Speaker.<\/p>\n
Lovick, a Mill Creek Democrat and former Snohomish County executive, moved in Monday, making history the moment he sat down.<\/p>\n
He is black, the first person of color to be given the duties and responsibilities of House Speaker. Though the gig is temporary — he’ll serve until January when a new speaker is elected by the full House — it’s no less a barrier-breaking accomplishment.<\/p>\n
“I am proud to stand on the broad shoulders of a lot of people who served (in the Legislature) before me,” Lovick said.<\/p>\n
Before Chopp departed, the two men spent a couple hours going over the levers of power Lovick would control. On Lovick’s first day, he made a point to meet the men and women employees, partisan and non-partisan, who are the gears of the legislative machinery he’ll be steering.<\/p>\n
“There’s so much structure in place,” Lovick said. “This is a well-oiled machine that runs exceptionally well.” <\/p>\n
Lovick spent part of the first week wrestling with separate reviews of two House members.<\/p>\n
One involves Democratic Rep. Jeff Morris of Mount Vernon. A complaint concerning Morris’ managerial manners prompted caucus leaders late last year to launch a fact-finding inquiry <\/a>and likely contributed to the veteran lawmaker losing a committee chairmanship in the 2019 session.<\/p>\n