Harris to unveil economic agenda that would crack down on ‘price gouging’ on food, groceries

Written by ABC AUDIO on August 16, 2024

(WASHINGTON) — Vice President Kamala Harris is set to release her economic agenda on Friday following calls for her campaign to zero in on policy after an unprecedented rise to the top of Democratic ticket.

Harris is set to outline her plans at an event in Raleigh, North Carolina — a pivotal battleground state both Harris and former President Donald Trump will work to win in November.

Among the economic policies Harris is set to announce is a plan to provide up to $25,000 in down-payment support for first-time homeowners, according to a campaign official.

The campaign is vowing that during her first term, the Harris-Walz administration would provide working families who have paid their rent on time for two years and are buying their first home up to $25,000 in down-payment assistance, with more generous support for first-generation homeowners.

She will also call for the construction of 3 million new housing units to end the housing supply shortage, her campaign said.

Harris also will propose a federal ban on “corporate price gouging” on food and groceries, the campaign said.

“In her first 100 days, Vice President Harris will work to enact a plan to bring down Americans’ grocery costs and keep inflation in check,” the campaign said.

Overall, her plans are being sold as a way to bring down everyday costs for Americans.

Harris will work to raise the minimum wage and end taxes on tips, her campaign said.

Her plan includes proposals to protect and strengthen Social Security and Medicare by building on Biden-era proposals such as lowering drug costs by capping the cost of insulin at $35 and out-of-pocket expenses for prescription drugs at $2,000 for everyone, not just seniors.

Harris will call for restoring the American Rescue Plan’s expanded Child Tax Credit and she will propose a new $6,000 Child Tax Credit for “families with children in the first year of life.”

Harris’ announcement comes on the heels of her first joint appearance with President Joe Biden since he stepped down as the Democratic Party’s nominee. Questions are mounting on whether or not she will choose to either distance herself or embrace the current administration’s “Bidenomics.”

For her part, Harris has maintained an interest in expanding popular Biden-era proposals such as the child tax credit and has shown staunch support of labor unions. Under the current administration, she has taken on reducing medical and student debt.

Harris’ economic plan will provide a split screen with Trump, who touched on his economic priorities in remarks on Wednesday. He has already criticized Harris for “copying” some of his own proposals after she announced eliminating taxes on tips in Las Vegas on Saturday, the same city he first mentioned it.

“She’s doing a plan, you know she’s going to announce it this week, maybe. She’s waiting for me to announce it so she can copy it,” said Trump while outlining his own broad policy ideas in Asheville, North Carolina on Wednesday. “Like, remember a couple days ago, and ‘we will have no tax on tips!’ I said, ‘that was my plan!”

Harris will also direct her administration to crack down on mergers and acquisitions between big food corporations, another way for the campaign to continue to highlight her role as a prosecutor.

The vice president has already distanced herself from some of her former positions laid out in her 2020 presidential bid. Her campaign has remained ambiguous over her support of banning fracking and Medicare for All, which she had previously espoused.

ABC News’ Selina Wang contributed to this report.