Harris unveils economic plan, including major housing proposals

Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday unveiled her economic agenda, which includes major policy proposals that supporters say would help Nevadans and Republicans say would further tank the country’s economy.

Her plans that she would work to implement in her first 100 days in office include providing $25,000 to first-time homeowners for a down payment, putting in place a $6,000 tax cut for families with newborn children, working with states to cancel medical debt and advancing a federal ban on price gouging.

“Together we will build what I call an opportunity economy,” Harris said at a rally in North Carolina. “An economy where everyone can compete and have a real chance to succeed. Everyone, regardless of who they are or where they start, has an opportunity to build wealth for themselves and their children.”

The Republican National Committee and Trump campaign railed against Harris’ plans on Friday, saying it was a far overreach of government that will only further hurt the country’s economy.

“Kamala’s economic agenda will spike prices and taxes in the long run, and her Maduro-like price controls will put America on the same path as communist countries that have been destroyed by the same weak economic policies,” said RNC Chairman Michael Whatley in a statement.

Earlier this week Trump also touted his own economic plans while at a rally in North Carolina, where he promised to bring down consumer prices and increase tax cuts and pledged to end what he said are job-killing regulations. Trump also pledged to save Social Security and Medicare, and expand drilling for more American energy. He has also made his proposal for no taxes on tips a large part of his economic plan.

Harris’ housing plans

Some Nevada Democrats, however, said Harris’ plan will help the state, specifically with easing its longtime shortage of affordable housing.

During a press conference Friday, Treasurer Zach Conine highlighted how Harris’ plans for housing will help Nevada’s overall economy. He referenced the work the administration has already done by providing $500 million from the American Rescue Plan Act to go toward the state’s Home Means Nevada program.

“We’re doing the best we can at the state level, but we need the federal government to step in and provide big assistance, and that is exactly what Vice President Harris has rolled out in her housing policy that was a big piece of her economic agenda, because she knows — just like we know — that if you can fix housing, you can fix the economy,” the Democratic treasurer said.

Harris plans to propose a tax incentive for home builders who sell homes to first-time home buyers, Conine said, and she also plans to expand existing tax incentives for businesses that build affordable rental housing.

The vice president called for the construction of three million new housing units and proposed a $40 billion housing innovation fund that will go toward state programs, Conine said.

Harris’s plans also include stopping rent-setting data firms from price fixing and stopping corporate landlords from buying up homes in bulk. She called on Congress to pass the Stop Predatory Investing Act, which would deny taxpayers who own 50 or more single family properties any tax deduction for interest paid in connection to a rental property.

Grocery costs plan

A major part of Harris’ economic plans relate to lowering grocery costs. The vice president, if elected, will work with Congress to enact a ban on price gouging on food and groceries, set rules to “make clear that big corporations can’t unfairly exploit consumers” and provide new authority to the Federal Trade Commission to investigate and impose penalties on companies that break the rules, according to Harris’ campaign.

Karoline Leavitt, the Trump campaign’s national press secretary, said in a statement that Harris will make inflation worse if elected, calling her policies “socialist.”

Kevin Hassett, a former senior adviser and chairman to the Council of Economic Advisers in the Trump administration, said governments setting prices is a “really, really big mistake.”

“This policy is completely preposterous,” Hassett said during an RNC and Trump campaign press call on Friday. He added that Harris’s campaign seems to be doubling down on the policies of the Biden administration that he said ignited inflation.

Conine said that Harris’ campaign has proposals to address housing, while Trump’s doesn’t. He criticized Trump for proposing to cut the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development by 18 percent, which Conine said would lead to less money coming into Nevada for housing projects.

“Nevadans deserve and demand policies that are actually going to work for Nevada,” he said.

Contact Jessica Hill at jehill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jess_hillyeah on X.