Infrastructure That Works for Everyone

Background

Infrastructure isn't an abstract policy category — it's the roads your kids ride the bus on, the bridge you cross to get to work, the ports that bring in goods we purchase and consume, and the water that comes out of your tap. When Lauren bought her home here in Louisiana, she learned quickly that surrounding infrastructure is a key factor, from the road conditions on your street to whether your water and drainage systems can handle the next big storm. Every person or family that buys a home or moves into this district is making that same bet on their community holding up.

Roads, Bridges, and Ports

Right now, that bet is a shaky one. Even though Louisiana's roads, bridges, and ports are the backbone of our economy, many are outdated, congested, and in urgent need of repair. Louisiana's infrastructure currently earns a C- grade from the American Society of Civil Engineers. This is an improvement from a D+ in 2017, but still far from where it needs to be, with six of ten infrastructure categories earning the same or lower grades than eight years ago. More than 1,500 of Louisiana's bridges are in poor condition, including the Pearl River Bridge on Highway 90 in St. Tammany Parish. This bridge has been closed indefinitely since May 2022 because of structural steel deterioration causing unsafe and inefficient travel for people in District 1.

Even where federal investment has flowed in, it hasn't kept pace with inflation or the state's growing needs. This leaves real funding gaps that prevent Louisiana from addressing its most critical problems. With 12,915 bridges and billions in highway projects underway through the TIMED program, the need for maintenance and upgrades has never been greater. Traffic on I-10 is expected to grow 30% by 2032, making improvements critical for families and commuters across our region.

Broadband

Broadband is its own crisis in this district: over 10% of Louisianans live in areas with no broadband infrastructure at all under the FCC's benchmark, and nearly 1 in 5 Louisiana households don't have an internet subscription even where service exists. This is often because it's simply too expensive. In 2026, that's not a minor inconvenience. It's the difference between a kid finishing homework and a small business staying online, between a rural family reaching a telehealth appointment and going without care.

Clean Water

Saltwater is creeping into our drinking water. In 2023, drought dropped the Mississippi River so low that Gulf saltwater pushed upstream toward New Orleans. Plaquemines Parish was hit first. Nearly 2,000 residents went months on bottled water. Some families reported skin rashes from bathing in it. Local businesses lost equipment to corrosion. At its worst, the water tested six and a half times saltier than the EPA's safety threshold. The Army Corps had to barge in freshwater and race to build an underwater levee before the wedge reached New Orleans, Jefferson, and St. Bernard. This is what happens when drought, sea-level rise, and coastal land loss combine. It will happen again, and next time it could reach more of our district.

Our pipes are old, and it shows. Boil water advisories aren't rare in LA-01. In fact, they're routine. Jefferson Parish has lost water pressure from mains that trace back to the 1940s. St. Tammany has had multiple advisories in a single year from chlorination failures and main breaks. Every time this happens, parents have to boil water before making a baby's bottle, restaurants have to close, and schools have to cancel classes and send kids home. As a teacher, Lauren experienced this many times and this led to disruptions in learning. That's not a minor inconvenience. It's a sign our water systems are being patched instead of rebuilt.

Lauren’s Priorities in Congress

• Fight for Louisiana's fair share of federal highway, bridge, and infrastructure formula funding, and ensure it's actually spent on the roads, interstate highways, and bridges rated in poor condition like the Pearl River Bridge on Highway 90 and those used as part of evacuation routes, rather than delayed by political gridlock.
• Support the Bridge Investment Program and similar federal funding streams to accelerate repair of Louisiana's highest-risk bridges before they fail, not after.
• Expand broadband infrastructure funding specifically targeted at unserved rural parishes in LA-01, and push for subsidies that make existing broadband actually affordable for working families.
• Fight for federal infrastructure dollars to invest in resilient water, sewer, and drainage systems so communities aren't left with boil-water advisories and flooded streets every time a storm comes through.
• Protect our water supply from saltwater intrusion by supporting coastal restoration projects, pushing for early warning and rapid response systems for affected parishes, and securing permanent and continuous federal funding for the Mississippi River sill system
• With community input and approval, protect and modernize port and waterway infrastructure funding critical to Louisiana's maritime and shipping economy.
• Require that federal infrastructure dollars come with strong labor standards such as good wages, safety protections, and local-hire requirements so the workers building this infrastructure share in its benefits.