U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris makes remarks about Medicare drug price negotiations at an event with U.S. President Joe Biden in Prince George’s County, Maryland, U.S., August 15, 2024.
Elizabeth Frantz | Reuters
Vice President Kamala Harris will unveil a new set of economic proposals Friday that would prioritize her first 100 days in office. The policies aim to lower the cost of groceries and prescription drugs, expand affordable housing and lower taxes for the middle class.
The Democratic presidential nominee will visit the battleground state of North Carolina to deliver her first dedicated political speech since President Joe Biden dropped out of the race in late July, catapulting her to the top of the ticket.
“These bold actions will address some of the most pressing pain points facing American families and strengthen their financial security,” the Harris campaign said Friday in a news release about the plans.
Groceries and food
In an effort to address the stubbornly high price of groceries, Harris will work with Congress to push the first federal ban of “corporate price gouging’ on food and groceries.
This will include establishing clear “rules of the road” so that companies “cannot unfairly exploit consumers to make excessive corporate profits” on grocery staples, according to the prospectus.
To investigate and punish alleged violations, Harris will authorize the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general.
A Harris administration would also take an aggressive regulatory approach to proposed mergers and consolidations among the largest food producers.
Affordable housing and rent
Harris’ plan would help cash-strapped renters preventing data companies from raising rental rates and preventing Wall Street investors from buying homes in bulk to resell at higher costs.
U.S. President Joe Biden raises the hand of Vice President Kamala Harris during an event on Medicare drug price negotiations in Prince George’s County, Maryland, U.S., August 15, 2024.
Ken Cedeno | Reuters
Harris will also ask the US to build 3 million new housing units the next four years. In order to facilitate this, it will call for new tax incentives for builders who build ‘starter homes’.
Any changes to the tax code require approval by Congress and depend largely on which party controls the House and Senate.
As the supply of entry-level housing expanded, the Harris plan would “give working families who have paid their rent on time for two years and are buying their first home up to $25,000 in down payments, with more generous support for first-generation homeowners ,” according to the newsletter.
Health care costs
Harris will seek to expand the Biden administration’s landmark $35 price cap on insulin for Medicare recipients to cover insulin for all Americans, not just seniors.
US President Joe Biden with Vice President Kamala Harris (not seen) and North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper (not seen) deliver remarks on health care in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States on March 26, 2024.
Peter Zay | Anadolu | Getty Images
Similar to her plans to cut costs for the food industry, Harris’ health care policy is based in part on tighter regulations and tough antitrust enforcement.
According to the Harris campaign, the plan calls for “crackdown on pharmaceutical companies that prevent competition and abusive practices by pharmaceutical middlemen.”
Tax cuts
Reinstating the expanded child tax credits first introduced during the Covid pandemic is a long-standing goal of the Biden administration and one that Harris will take on if elected president.
It will also go a step further and propose an expanded tax break of up to $6,000 for families with a newborn.
The Harris campaign calls this a year “when many families’ expenses are higher — with cribs, diapers, car seats and more.” She also notes that many parents without access to paid leave are forced to choose between spending time with their baby and working long hours to make ends meet.
The bets
After just three weeks on the campaign trail, Harris has erased the electoral lead held by former President Donald Trump kept Biden.
But the vice president largely shied away from policy specifics, choosing instead to draw contrasts with Trump.
The Tar Heel State speech will give her a chance to articulate a vision for the economy that builds on — and potentially departs from — parts of the Biden administration’s economic output.
On Thursday, Harris and Biden appeared together in Maryland to support a deal with pharmaceutical companies to lower the cost of the 10 most expensive prescription drugs under Medicare.
US President Joe Biden hugs Vice President Kamala Harris at an event on Medicare drug price negotiations in Prince George’s County, Maryland, US, August 15, 2024.
Elizabeth Frantz | Reuters
The landmark negotiations — triggered by Biden’s central spending legislation, the Inflation Reduction Act — will result in net savings of about $6 billion for Medicare when officially come into force in 2026, according to the government.
The vice president’s speech comes just two days after Trump gave his own economy-focused speech in North Carolina.
Speaking in Asheville, Trump launched personal attacks on Harris while blaming her for the high consumer prices that Biden has spent much of his presidency trying to reverse.
Recent polls show that the state, which Trump won in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, is now within reach for Harris in 2024.
A new round of battlefield mode poll results released Wednesday by the Cook Political Report showed Harris leading Trump in North Carolina by 1 percentage point, 48-47, still well within the poll’s margin of error.
