On the Issues
Protecting Women’s Rights
Following the terrible decision by the United States Supreme Court to reverse precedent and strike down Roe V. Wade, Dick has been a leading voice in South Carolina against Republican efforts to ban abortion access in the state. A woman’s right to choose is a sacred right and he believes no politician should be interfering with women’s health care decisions. He will continue to fight to reverse the abortion ban in South Carolina, help women access quality care options, and ensure our rights and freedoms are protected now and into the future.
Supporting Local Businesses and Growing the Economy
Dick has been a leader in local economic development as our Senator. When COVID - 19 hit South Carolina, Dick personally helped numerous local businesses access the information they needed to stay open, and connected hundreds of constituents with unemployment assistance. He was also a vocal advocate of bringing Scout Motors to the midlands, one of the largest economic development deals in the history of South Carolina. This project will create 4,000 new jobs and will build all-electric, next-generation trucks and rugged SUVs. When complete, more than 200,000 Scout vehicles may be produced annually at the facility.
Fighting Public Corruption
Corruption is rampant in our state government, and Dick ran to put an end to the good ole boy system. Dick refuses the standard practice of attending paid lobbyist luncheons and cocktail parties where backroom deals are struck. When South Carolina’s South Carolina's comptroller general was found to be sleeping on the job following a $3.5 billion accounting error in his annual financial reports, Dick voted to remove him from office. He also successfully pushed the Lexington-Richland Airport Commission to reform its practices after exposing their extravagant spending on personal luxuries instead of working to make travel affordable for South Carolinians.
Protecting Your Right to Vote
Dick believes safe and secure elections are essential to our democracy. He has successfully advocated for reform of the Richland County Election Commission and has called for investigations into their repeated mishandling of elections. Additionally, he was a leading voice against a partisan redistricting led by Republican leadership following the 2021 census. He has advocated for an independent reapportionment committee to come up with a better system than elected officials choosing their own constituents. Dick also successfully advocated for legislation expanding absentee voting to all South Carolinians.
Fighting Utility Rates
For too long South Carolina has been at the mercy of powerful utility companies who prioritize corporate interests over that of ratepayers. Dick has challenged the practices of the SC Public Service Commission, an agency designed to protect ratepayers but has failed too often to do its job, by introducing legislation to reform the commission to work for you. Dick successfully advocated stopping ludicrous rate increases by Blue Granite Water during the COVID - 19 pandemic.
Lowering Taxes and Fighting Wasteful Spending
Unwieldy spending and bad deals with private businesses are a constant theme in the SC Legislature. Dick is working to stop these practices, having introduced legislation to end secret “pet projects” that are tacked onto legislative budgets. Long before the Carolina Panthers practice facility in Rock HIll failed, he was a vocal advocate against taxpayer dollars being used for the project, pushing to stop a $115 million tax break for the team’s billionaire owner. He also worked with the Legislative Audit Council to study the incentive programs by the Department of Commerce and ensure no additional taxpayer money was going to the failed project.
Improving our Schools
Dick knows how valuable the public education system is to every South Carolinian, and he believes we are not providing adequate funding to schools or teachers. Dick has proposed pay increases for teachers beyond current proposals and increased funding to schools in the yearly budget. He is also taking mismanagement in our local school systems, calling for an investigation into the Richland 1 school district following the controversial transfer of about 11 teachers to new schools.