Tax cuts, housing incentives, more price caps

Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday will unveil a new set of economic proposals that she would prioritize in her first 100 days in office. The policies aim to lower the cost of groceries and prescription drugs, expand affordable housing and cut taxes for the middle class.

The Democratic presidential nominee will visit the battleground state of North Carolina to deliver her first dedicated policy speech since President Joe Biden withdrew from the race in late July, catapulting her to the top of the ticket.

“These bold actions will address some of the sharpest pain points American families are confronting and bolster their financial security,” the Harris campaign said Friday in a fact sheet on the plans.

In an effort to tackle the stubbornly high price of groceries, Harris will work with Congress to advance the first ever federal ban on “corporate price-gouging” on food and groceries.

This would include setting clear “rules of the road” so that corporations “can’t unfairly exploit consumers to run up excessive corporate profits” on grocery staples, according to the fact sheet.

To investigate and penalize alleged violations, Harris would empower the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general.

A Harris administration would also take an aggressive regulatory approach to proposed mergers and consolidation among the biggest food producers.

Harris’ plan would help cash-strapped renters by blocking data firms from hiking lease rates, and by preventing Wall Street investors from buying homes in bulk to resell at a premium.

Harris will also call for the U.S. to construct three million new housing units over the next four years. In order to facilitate that, she will call for new tax incentives for builders who construct “starter homes.”

Any changes to the tax code require congressional approval, and depend heavily on which party controls the House and Senate.

As the supply of entry-level homes expanded, the Harris plan 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,” according to the fact sheet.