Infrastructure
Building the foundation for economic growth and quality of life in South Carolina's First District requires strategic investment in our roads, bridges, utilities, and digital connectivity.
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Declare an Infrastructure National Emergency
From World Wars to pandemics, America has mobilized its industrial might when the moment demanded it. That moment is here again. Our roads, bridges, water systems, and power grids are aging, overstressed, and falling behind the needs of a growing nation. Jay will push to declare infrastructure a national emergency to unlock the focus, funding, and urgency this crisis demands. The American Dream depends on a foundation that works, and right now, that foundation is crumbling. It is time to treat it like the emergency it is.
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Prioritize Infrastructure Funding at the Federal Level
In 2025, the federal government spent $61.1 billion on roads and bridges across all 50 states, yet South Carolina’s First Congressional District has received just $500 million over the last decade. That is not a funding strategy. That is neglect. Building and maintaining infrastructure is one of the core functions of government, and our spending should reflect that. Jay will fight to make infrastructure a top-line budget priority, not an afterthought buried behind wasteful programs that do nothing for the people paying the bills.
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Expedite Permitting and Speed Up Construction
Projects across the Lowcountry are taking years to permit and approve at the federal level, causing massive cost overruns and blown budgets. Every year of delay means higher prices and longer waits for the roads, bridges, and utilities our communities need now. We need a federal government that helps us build faster, not one that buries us in red tape. With advancements in AI and technology, there is no excuse for permitting processes that were designed for a different era. Jay will fight to modernize approvals and get projects moving again.
Empower and Enhance the American Workforce to Build Infrastructure
The federal government needs a more accessible bidding and procurement process that opens the door to local workers and small businesses. We have plenty of infrastructure need right here in the Lowcountry. We are going to adjust our priorities and increase our investment. The natural final step is making sure the people who build it are the people who live here. Jay will push for procurement reforms that give local contractors and tradespeople a fair shot, keeping tax dollars in our communities and putting our neighbors to work.
Support Lowcountry Industries and Jobs with Infrastructure
From Parris Island to the Port of Charleston, the Lowcountry’s largest employers depend on infrastructure that is overdue for an upgrade. These industries bring jobs, but jobs bring traffic, and our roads have not kept pace. Jay will fight to fund the infrastructure that supports our major job centers, making them more accessible and ensuring that the Lowcountry remains a place where businesses want to invest and families can get to work safely and efficiently.
Conservation
Protecting South Carolina's natural heritage, coastal resources, and environmental quality ensures a sustainable future for generations to come while supporting our economy and way of life.
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Protect Lowcountry Beauty with Federal Resources
The ACE Basin, where the Ashepoo, Combahee, and Edisto rivers converge, is one of the largest undeveloped estuaries on the East Coast and a crown jewel of the Lowcountry. A sign on the bridge over the Ashepoo calls it “The Last Great Place,” and that is not an exaggeration. Places like this cannot be rebuilt once they are lost. Jay will fight to expand federal conservation protections for the ACE Basin and aggressively pursue federal funding to preserve and enhance this irreplaceable landscape. Conservation is not anti-business. It is pro-legacy.
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Invest in Greenspaces to Slow the Pace of Development
Parks and greenspaces do more than preserve beauty. They enhance property values, give families places to gather, and create natural buffers against reckless overdevelopment. Jay has seen this firsthand on Dorchester County Council, where he led efforts to build parks and protect land from sprawl. At the federal level, he will fight for resources that help communities invest in greenspaces that protect the character of the Lowcountry while giving people places to breathe, play, and connect with the outdoors.
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Establish Green Connections to Our Beautiful Spaces
Isolated parks and preserves are valuable, but connected greenways and trails multiply that value many times over. When natural spaces are linked together, they enhance the beauty and livability of entire communities, support wildlife corridors, and give residents safe ways to walk, bike, and explore. Jay will advocate for federal support for green infrastructure that connects our beautiful spaces to the people who live near them, making the Lowcountry not just a place to live but a place worth staying.
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Fund Public Access to Nature to Get People Outside
People do not truly understand the value of nature unless they experience it firsthand. Walking a trail, shrimping on the Edisto, sitting in a duck blind at sunrise. These are the moments that remind us of what God has blessed us with. Jay will fight for federal investment in public access to our natural spaces, with a special focus on getting young people outside. Kids who grow up in nature become the stewards who protect it. The future of the Lowcountry depends on who we teach to care for it today.
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Make the Lowcountry a Priority in the Budget
Washington has no problem spending money. It just spends it on the wrong things. Instead of pouring billions into wasteful programs that produce no results, we should be directing federal conservation dollars to places like the Lowcountry that are worth protecting. Jay will fight to redirect federal spending toward conservation priorities that deliver real value: protecting our waterways, preserving our land, and ensuring that the Lowcountry stays special for generations to come. This is exactly the kind of investment our tax dollars were meant for.
Affordability
Making life more affordable for families, seniors, and working people in South Carolina's First District by addressing the rising costs of housing, healthcare, and everyday essentials.
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Enforce Immigration Laws
You cannot solve an affordability crisis while ignoring the demand side of the equation. With an estimated 15 million people in this country illegally, the strain on housing, healthcare, schools, and public services is enormous. Supply simply cannot keep up. Jay supports President Trump’s efforts to secure the border and enforce our immigration laws, not out of hostility, but out of common sense. When we restore order to our immigration system, we take real pressure off the cost of living for American families.
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Allow Retirement Accounts to Be Used for Down Payments
For too many young families, the biggest barrier to homeownership is the down payment. Meanwhile, they may have money sitting in a 401(k) that they cannot touch without penalty. Jay supports allowing tax-free withdrawals from retirement accounts for the purpose of purchasing a first home. Homeownership is the single best wealth-building tool available to regular Americans, and we should be making it more accessible, not locking people out of their own savings while they struggle to get a foot in the door.
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Open Up Markets to Regular Americans
Institutional investors and large corporate buyers may only control about four percent of the national single-family market, but on a local scale their impact is far greater. In communities across the Lowcountry, these buyers are distorting markets, outbidding families, and driving up prices. Jay will push for common-sense reforms that level the playing field so that regular Americans, not Wall Street hedge funds, have a fair shot at buying a home in the neighborhoods where they work and raise their families.
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Address the National Debt that Drives Up Interest Rates
The massive federal debt is not just a number on a screen in Washington. It hits families right here in the Lowcountry every single month. Reckless government spending fuels inflation, and inflation forces the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates high. That means higher mortgage payments, more expensive car loans, and small businesses struggling to grow. Jay will vote to slash wasteful spending and restore fiscal discipline, because the fastest way to bring down the cost of borrowing is to stop the government from spending money it does not have.
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Provide Relief to Small Businesses
Small businesses are the backbone of the Lowcountry economy, but right now they are being crushed by regulations and a tax code that favors big corporations. Jay knows this firsthand as someone who has built and run small businesses himself. He will fight for meaningful regulatory relief and tax reform that makes entrepreneurship more accessible to average Americans. When it is easier to start and grow a business, more families have a real path to financial independence, and our communities are stronger for it.