RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris is promoting a broad set of economic proposals that would offer new tax breaks and lower the cost of living for Americans, aiming to address the financial concerns that are at the top of the mind for voters and that Republican Donald Trump is trying to lay at her doorstep.
Harris traveled to the battleground state of North Carolina to lay out her plans on Friday, including a proposal for a federal ban on price gouging on groceries. She also is proposing $25,000 in down payment help for certain first-time homebuyers and tax incentives for builders of starter homes, among other things.
Harris is calling for tax breaks aimed at families, as well as middle- and lower-income people. She would expand the child tax credit to up to $3,600 — and $6,000 for children in their first year of life. Harris would expand the earned income tax credit to cover people in lower-income jobs without children, which the campaign estimates would cut their effective tax rate by $1,500. Harris also wants to lower health insurance premiums through the Affordable Care Act.
Overall, the plan represents a continuation of many Biden administration priorities but with a pronounced shift in emphasis from job creation and infrastructure and to matters more closely tied to easing the cost of living — food prices, housing and tax breaks for families.
Many initiatives would require congressional approval, which is far from assured in the current political environment, and there were scant details on how to pay for the ideas.
Riding a resurgence of enthusiasm since the Democrats’ campaign reboot, Harris has embarked on a battleground state blitz in recent weeks that has broadened the number of races viewed as competitive by strategists.
In North Carolina, Democrats are navigating renewed energy with caution in an economically dynamic state that hasn’t been won by a Democratic presidential candidate since Barack Obama in 2008.
Gov. Roy Cooper told Friday’s crowd, “I have that 2008 feeling.”
“We in North Carolina know what that means, because that’s the last time we voted for a Democratic nominee for president, Barack Obama,” Cooper said. “It is time North Carolina makes history again.”
