To the Editor:

Your recent Letter to the Editor, “A Tale of Two Pats,” makes the point that there are big differences between state representatives, Pat Serpa and Pat Morgan. 

I couldn’t agree more.

Pat Serpa is a champion for her district’s middle class. With our communities facing financial difficulties, she took on the special interests and demanded that the people of her district have a say before our education dollars get taken away to charter schools, leaving our own public schools with fewer and fewer resources. Even now, over one million dollars are taken from West Warwick, Coventry, and Warwick schools to subsidize charter schools. Fortunately, Pat Serpa is holding up the floodgates and taking a stand for our students and our public schools.

 Pat Morgan has the values of the Tea Party - she voted against public schools and us having a say in how our tax dollars get spent on education. In typical Republican fashion, she supports taking money away from our public schools and giving it to corporations who run private and charter schools. Great public schools are the great equalizer in America and Pat Morgan is not on the side of those who need a great education to get a hand up in society.

Pat Serpa also sides with the middle class on the minimum wage. Every year for the last 4 years, there has been a vote to increase the minimum wage so that it keeps up with the cost of living. In 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2014, Pat Serpa voted yes to increase the minimum wage to its current rate of $9.60 per hour.

In typical Republican fashion, Pat Morgan voted no on the minimum wage every year for the last 4 years. In the 1960s, the minimum wage could keep a family afloat. While Pat Serpa is trying to help the middle class stay afloat, Pat Morgan is trying to sink us.

Pat Serpa also advocates for the middle class as the chairwoman of the Small Business Committee. She has made it her passion to fight the red tape that is strangling small businesses in the community and for faster regulatory reform.

Pat Serpa also sponsored legislation to eliminate taxes on your Social Security benefits and to eliminate taxes on businesses’ energy use. She successfully advocated to have her legislation put into last year’s budget, which passed unanimously.

On every other issue I can think of, Pat Serpa stands with the middle class. She voted yes on marriage equality, yes on renewable energy, yes on infrastructure and yes on fighting climate change. On those same votes, Pat Morgan takes the side of the Tea Party: she voted no on marriage equality (after promising to vote yes on the campaign trail), no on renewable energy, no on infrastructure and no on fighting climate change.

There really are two Pats. Pat Serpa is with us, the middle class. Pat Morgan is on the side of the Tea Party Republicans.

John Walsh

Warwick