Vice President Kamala Harris will unveil her economic plans on Friday in Raleigh, North Carolina. This is the first time Harris has released a major policy initiative since President Biden dropped out of the race last month.
New housing
Harris will call for the construction of 3 million new housing units in her first four years in office. The Biden administration has already previously called for the construction of 2 million new homes.
Harris will also push for new tax incentives for builders who build first-time home buyers and propose a $40 billion fund to help local governments find solutions to the housing shortage. The Wall Street Journal first reported on Harris’ proposed housing initiatives.
Campaign officials said Harris will ask Congress to pass the Preventing Algorithmic Promotion of Rental Housing Cartels Act, which would prevent landlords from using price-fixing algorithms to raise rents. She also wants lawmakers to pass the Preventing Predatory Investing Act, a bill that would limit tax breaks for large investors and private equity firms that purchase single-family homes in bulk.
Harris will also propose providing up to $25,000 in down payment assistance to working families who have paid their rent on time for two years, and increasing support for first-generation homeowners.
Expansion of the child tax allowance
Harris also proposes expanding the child tax credit to provide a $6,000 tax break to families with newborns. The Republican vice presidential candidate and senator from Ohio. JD Vance has a similar but a more general expansion of the child tax credit by $5,000. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget pointed out that such an expansion of the child tax credit, in Vance’s case by 150 percent beyond the current $2,000 allowance, could mean trillions in debt. “We could easily be talking about $2 trillion to $3 trillion in additional debt over the next decade,” Marc Goldwein, senior policy director for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, told CBS MoneyWatch of Vance’s proposal.
Vance has indicated that there would be no income limits for the tax credit he proposes, while Harris’ proposal would apply to low- and middle-income families.
Harris also wants to return the child tax credit to the pandemic era Levels of the American Rescue Planwhich would provide working- and middle-class families with children with up to $3,600 per child.
She also proposes a $1,500 earned income tax credit for people in low-paying jobs who are not raising children. The campaign also stresses that Harris will ensure that “no one who makes less than $400,000 a year will have to pay more taxes.”
Both Vance’s and Harris’ proposals would require congressional approval.
Combating inflation
Harris is expected to announce that she will make fighting inflation her priority from day one. In addition, she will put forward a plan to lower costs for middle-class families, crack down on corporate price gouging and overall focus on lowering costs for Americans.
According to a campaign factsheet, Harris plans to lower food prices in her first 100 days in office. To do this, she will work with Congress to negotiate a nationwide ban on price gouging in the food sector and give the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general new powers to impose penalties on companies that break the law.
Extreme consolidation in the food industry has led to higher prices, which account for a large portion of higher grocery bills. Harris plans to crack down on unfair mergers and acquisitions that give big food companies the power to drive up prices on groceries and grocery stores and undermine the competition that keeps prices low for consumers. And her plan aims to support smaller businesses like grocery stores, meat processors, farmers and ranchers so those industries can become more competitive.
According to most current poll by CBS NewsOnly 9% of registered voters rated the state of the national economy as “very good,” with the economy and inflation consistently ranked as the biggest problem in all 2024 polls. Inflation has cooled since its peak in June 2022, but many voters are still feeling the financial strain. Prices overall are still 20% higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a statement, the Trump campaign accused Harris of trying to impose price controls, which it said have been “tried—and failed—over and over again throughout history, as they inevitably lead to food lines, shortages, and skyrocketing inequality.” The Trump campaign also blamed the problem on Harris and Biden’s economic policies, “aided and abetted by Harris’s decisive votes on trillions of inflationary spending.” However, economists have said that pandemic-related federal spending by both Trump and Biden has fueled high inflation.
Friday’s economic policy remarks follow Harris’ promise to abolish taxes at a rally in Las Vegas last Saturday on tips and increasing the minimum wage.
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Abolition of taxes on tips
“If I am president, we will continue our fight for working families. That includes raising the minimum wage and eliminating the tip tax for service and restaurant workers,” Harris told rally attendees, who included members of the Nevada Culinary Union.
A Harris-Walz campaign official pointed out that her promise would need to be enshrined in law.
This was the first time Harris made a proposal to eliminate the tax on service employee tips, an idea similar to one first floated by former President Donald Trump in June, also at a rally in Las Vegas.
In 2025, lawmakers will have a great chance to pass new tax legislation as some tax changes made during Trump’s presidency in 2017 expire. The majority in Congress is likely to be a major factor on the issue, as Republicans held the House, Senate and White House when Trump’s 2017 tax cuts went into effect.
Put an end to price gouging
Since becoming the Democratic presidential candidate, Harris has emphasized her commitment to the middle class in her campaign in swing states.
“If I’m president, I’ll continue this work to lower prices,” Harris said last Friday at a campaign rally in Arizona. “I’ll go after big corporations that engage in illegal price gouging. I’ll go after big landlords who unfairly raise rents for working families. I’ll go after the pharmaceutical industry and cap the cost of prescription drugs for all Americans.”
Harris promised the more than 15,000 attendees, adding: “Unlike Donald Trump, I will always put the middle class and working families first.”
In swing states, voters often tell CBS News on their way to the polling booth that the economy remains a top issue.
“Workforce development, job creation, making sure everyone can advance in different career fields,” Abraham Camejo said in Las Vegas ahead of Harris’ rally on Saturday when asked about economic priorities. “The policies that benefit big corporations and the middle class are different.”
According to a CBS News PollWhen it comes to measures to improve people’s financial situation, Harris is behind Trump: 45% of registered voters say they would be better off financially under the former president, compared to 25% for Harris.
Before becoming a presidential candidate in 2024, Harris embarked on an “economic opportunity tour” in which she sought to address voters’ key economic concerns and tout the administration’s economic achievements.
Aaron Navarro contributed to this report.
