What Would Kamala Harris’ Opportunity Economy Look Like?

Kamala Harris is proposing a pack of measures aimed at improving people’s personal finances.

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Updated · 13 min read
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Written by Anna Helhoski
Senior Writer
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Edited by Rick VanderKnyff
Senior Assigning Editor
Fact Checked

Updated on Nov. 6.

Trump wins the 2024 presidential election

Former President Donald Trump will be back in the White House come January. In case you missed it, here’s a rundown of his plans for the economy and your personal finances — and what economists are projecting for his second term. Read more.

Vice President Kamala Harris will face off against former President Donald Trump on November 5 and it’s clear that a major focus of the election will be on the economy and how the candidates’ proposals could impact personal finances.

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What would an opportunity economy look like?

On Aug. 22, Harris formally accepted the nomination for president on Thursday at the Democratic National Convention. In her acceptance speech, she promised to create what she calls an “opportunity economy.”

She said, "Whether you live in a rural area, small town, or big city. And as president, I will bring together labor and workers and small-business owners and entrepreneurs and American companies to create jobs, to grow our economy and to lower the cost of everyday needs like health care and housing and groceries. We will provide access to capital for small-business owners and entrepreneurs and founders. And we will end America’s housing shortage, and protect Social Security and Medicare.”

At one point during the first and, possibly, only debate between the two presidential hopefuls, Harris said to Trump, “You’re not running against Joe Biden. You’re running against me.”

That statement was clear to anyone watching.

Harris and Trump clashed over a number of policy proposals including the economy, abortion, climate change, energy, immigration and foreign policy.

Harris says her first 100 days would include a number of consumer-first policies. “Vice President Harris and Governor Walz will work with businesses, entrepreneurs, workers, and all stakeholders to drive an economy that creates opportunity and ensures stability and security for everyone,” the Harris campaign wrote in an Aug. 16 press release. Her other proposals include:

Lowering rental costs

  • Expanding an existing tax incentive for building affordable rental housing.

  • Calling on Congress to pass the Stop Predatory Investing Act, which would restrict major investors from receiving tax benefits for acquiring large numbers of single-family rental properties. 

  • Calling on Congress to pass the Preventing the Algorithmic Facilitation of Rental Housing Cartels Act, which would prohibit corporate landlords from colluding to raise rents using price-fixing algorithms. 

Building housing and lowering homeownership costs

  • Support construction of 3 million new housing units in the next four years. 

  • Create a tax incentive for homebuilders to construct starter homes that are sold to first-time homebuyers. 

  • Start a $40 billion “innovation fund”  for local governments to create local solutions to building housing. 

  • Make certain federal lands eligible to be repurposed for new affordable housing developments. 

  • Streamline permitting processes and reviews to create or convert new homes. 

  • Provide, on average, $25,000 in down payment support for first-time homebuyers that would enable 4 million first-time home buyers to receive assistance over 4 years. 

Reducing prescription drug costs

  • Put a cap on insulin costs at $35 and out-of-pocket expenses at $2,000 for all Americans. 

  • Allow Medicare to negotiate the price of prescription drugs in order to cut costs for common prescriptions by 40% to 80%. Harris would also help speed up the process for making more affordable prescription drugs available for Medicare recipients. 

  • Crack down on Big Pharma companies that raise costs for consumers by blocking competition.

Canceling medical debt

  • Working with states to cancel medical debt — an action that the Harris campaign says would benefit millions of Americans. 

Banning price gouging to lower grocery prices

  • Banning corporate food and grocery price gouging. The measure echoes a bill introduced on Feb. 26 by Sen. Elizabeth Warren called the Price Gouging Prevention Act of 2024. The bill applies a ban on price gouging for companies earning above $100 million annually in gross revenue unless the company can prove the additional costs are not within its control.

  • The proposal would involve creating rules to prevent corporations from raising prices to run up “excessive profits” and enable the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys to impose penalties for breaking those rules.

Cutting taxes for families with children

  • Restore the expanded Child Tax Credit that was created with the American Rescue Plan. It provides up to $3,600 per child tax credit for eligible middle income and low income families. 

  • Enact a $6,000 child tax credit for middle income and low income families with newborns for the first year of a child’s life.

Giving tax breaks to small businesses

On Sept. 4 Vice President Kamala Harris proposed a new tax deduction and additional incentives intended to stimulate small business creation. The goal: 25 million new small business applications over four years.

The proposal includes a tenfold increase in federal tax incentives — from $5,000 to $50,000. The deduction would cover the typical costs to launch a new small business and would be available until the new business turns a profit. The tax incentive would likely require approval in Congress.

Expand the earned income tax credit

  • Expand the Earned Income Tax credit, which is available to eligible low-to-moderate income workers; those with children receive a higher tax credit. Harris’ proposal would expand the credit for individuals and couples filing jointly who work lower-income jobs and don’t have children. The campaign estimates it could save filers up to $1,500.  

Cut taxes on affordable health insurance premiums

  • Cut taxes on premiums on health insurance accessed through the Affordable Care Act Health Insurance Marketplace. The campaign estimated it could save consumers, on average, $700 per year.

Cover long-term care under Medicare

On Oct. 8, Harris promised to expand Medicare to cover at-home care for seniors and those with disabilities. She also pledged to provide vision and hearing benefits for seniors, also under Medicare. The new benefits would be funded by her plan to expand Medicare prescription drug price negotiations.

More promises

During a campaign speech in Pittsburgh on Sept. 25, Harris added some new pledges including:

  • Investing in bio-manufacturing, aerospace, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, blockchain and clean energy — “from advanced batteries to geothermal to advanced nuclear.”  

  • Invest in industrial towns through tax credits for “expanding good union jobs and steel and iron and manufacturing communities.”

  • Permitting reform.

  • Doubling the number of apprenticeships. 

In the speech, Harris promised to chart “a new way forward” for the economy, while emphasizing the difference between her approach and her opponents’. She said, “You see, for Donald Trump, our economy works best if it works for those who own the big skyscrapers, not those who actually build them, not those who wire them.”

Economic proposals in the DNC platform

In the DNC platform, the party emphasized key achievements of the Biden administration including the labor force comeback following the coronavirus pandemic, increased wages and slowing inflation. The following are proposals that relate to the economy or personal finances in the DNC’s 2024 election platform.

  • Investments in infrastructure that build on the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that boasts 57,000 projects across 4,500 communities including roadway rebuildling, public transit and high-speed rail lines; replacing lead pipes; adding clean energy power; and expanding the availability of high-speed internet.  

  • Investments in private sector manufacturing that build on the CHIPS and Science Act (increasing production of computer chips) and the Inflation Reduction Act (building renewable energy and EVs).   

  • Investing in research and development for health care and scientific discovery.

  • Investing in job creation, including in clean energy, manufacturing and construction. 

  • Building on the American Rescue Plan’s college-access, apprenticeships and workforce development plans.

  • Protecting worker and union rights, including support for the Protecting the RIght to Organize, or PRO, Act. 

  • Pushing to raise the minimum wage to at least $15 per hour for all Americans; increasing worker eligibility to overtime pay; and other worker protection actions. 

  • Building on the American Rescue Plan by expanding access to capital, training and business opportunities for small business owners, especially minority entrepreneurs.

  • Investing in small and mid-size farmers; supporting independent meat and poultry processing; expanding farm insurance; providing family farms facing financial difficulties with service distressed loans; and limiting foreign ownership of U.S. farmland. 

  • Restore the expanded Child Tax Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit. Push to make the New Markets Tax Credit permanent.

  • Ensure that the Direct File tool is available permanently to give people a free online tool for filing taxes. 

  • Make ultra-wealthy Americans and big corporations “pay their fair share” through eliminating tax loopholes; collecting unpaid income taxes; and increasing the corporate tax rate from Trump’s 21% up to 28%.

  • Make the health insurance premium tax credit permanent to save those with Affordable Care Act health insurance. 

  • Push states to expand Medicaid. 

  • Make it easier to keep kids on Medicaid and remove barriers to access the Children’s Health Insurance Program. 

  • Doubling investment in mobile health clinics. 

  • Invest in training for health care providers especially in rural and low income areas. 

  • Cracking down on surprise medical bills and junk health insurance. 

  • Push to exclude medical debt from credit scoring.

  • Investments in women’s health research.

  • Lowering drug prices by extending price caps on insulin, out-of-pocket drugs and generic drugs. Push for an end to Big Pharma practices that prevent other companies from making generic drugs. 

  • Eliminate the 700,000-person Medicaid waiting list. 

  • Expand home- and community-based services for seniors and those with disabilities. 

  • Require minimum staffing standards at nursing homes. 

  • Provide a guaranteed paid family and medical leave program that ensures American workers receive up to 12 weeks of paid time off. 

  • Holding companies accountable for price gouging. 

  • Work to lower gas prices through increased production of clean energy, oil and gas, as well as by cracking down on oil companies that collude to raise prices. 

  • Continue to crack down on “junk fees”.

  • Pushing for legislation to hold executives of failed banks accountable.

  • Limit exorbitant Wall Street bonuses to prevent risky bank practices. 

  • Pass an updated Glass-Steagall Act and expand the Volcker rule. 

  • Protect and strengthen the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 

  • Encourage more housing by streamlining the federal financing process for builders.

  • Crack down on those who violate the Fair Housing Act.

  • Encourage building or renovating 2 million homes by expanding the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit and creating a new Neighborhood Homes Tax Credit to build affordable housing for homeowners.

  • Creating a Housing Innovation Fund for state and local governments to increase the housing supply. 

  • Expanding rental assistance and capping rent increases.

  • Work to expand programs that reduce home heating, cooling and water bills.

  • Invest in job training partnerships and apprenticeship programs.

  • Make community college and trade school free for every American.

  • Continue to provide student loan forgiveness through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. 

  • Further expand Pell Grants for low-income college students. 

  • Protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

  • Make Medicare permanently solvent through Medicare taxes on the wealthy. 

  • Expand traditional Medicare coverage to include dental, vision and hearing services. 

  • Create clean energy jobs. 

  • Continue to offer tax credits and rebates to make homes more efficient in order to reduce home energy bills. 

  • Push to pass the Disaster Resilience Tax Credit for low- and middle-income families and small businesses to invest in preparing for the impact of natural disasters.

  • Fight to restore Roe and protect access to contraception, abortion, IVF and emergency medical care. 

  • Increase funding for Community Development Financial Institutions and Minority Depository Institutions.

  • Make permanent a New Markets Tax Credit to develop communities with need. 

  • End bias in the home appraisal process that undervalues Black- and Latino- owned homes. 

  • Down payment assistance for first-generation homeowners.

  • Mortgage relief tax credit for first-time homebuyers. 

  • Protect transgender Americans’ access to health care and coverage. 

  • Enforce non-discrimination protection for people with disabilities including health care, employment, education and housing.

  • Invest in home and community-based care.

  • End the subminimum wage. 

  • Make federal resources available for Tribal Nations, including access to health care and education. 

  • Increase border security, including increases for personnel to deter the flow of fentanyl, as well as increase funding for cities and states that shelter migrants.

  • Increase family-sponsored and employment-based immigrant visas available each year.

  • Investments in mental health care; substance use treatment; and cancer research.

  • Push for bipartisan legislation to promote competition and privacy in the tech industry. 

  • Pass the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights to protect personal electronic information. 

  • Invest In the AI Safety Institute to create best practices to evaluate AI risks and fund AI research. Ban voice impersonations and invest in protections in multiple industries including health care, financial services, education, housing and transportation. 

  • Increased support for military families through affordable and accessible child care; providing job opportunities for military spouses; and a stipend for caregivers.

The philosophy: “Bolstering our economic and technological strengths, promoting diverse and resilient global supply chains, and setting high standards for labor, environmental practices, trusted technology, and good governance. It also aims to channel capital towards delivering public goods such as climate solutions and healthcare advancements. America’s prosperity and the prosperity of our allies and partners are mutually reinforcing.”

How has the Biden-Harris administration handled the economy?

Biden has a clear track record with his economic policies — the shorthand of which is “Bidenomics” — that Harris has supported over the past four years. That record is what Biden had been campaigning on before dropping out, and it’s likely that Harris will follow suit.

The key pillars of the Biden-Harris administration’s economic vision, as outlined in a 2023 White House statement, include:

  • “Making smart public investments in America” that attract more private sector investment, including the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA); the CHIPS and Science Act; as well as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.  

  • “Empowering and educating workers to grow the middle class” through moves like forgiving student debt for qualifying borrowers; supporting unionization and collective bargaining and investing in registered apprenticeships. Under the Biden-Harris administration, the U.S. has seen some of the lowest unemployment in decades and strong wage gains that have outpaced inflation growth. 

  • “Promoting competition to lower costs and help entrepreneurs and small businesses to thrive.” This includes actions to lower costs by combatting junk fees, lowering prescription drug costs for seniors and enforcing antitrust law. 

However, Harris, like Biden will still have to contend with inflation as a messaging obstacle. Persistent elevated prices are still dragging down public perception of the administration’s handling of the economy.

In the spring, Harris launched a nationwide Economic Opportunity Tour that may serve as a blueprint for the vice president’s talking points in the campaign including:

  • Forgiving student loans.

  • Forgiving medical debt.

  • Investing in infrastructure.

  • Investing in small businesses.

  • Creating jobs. 

  • Increasing access to capital for underserved communities. 

  • Cutting costs for insulin and other prescription drugs. 

  • Expanding access to health care. 

  • Making housing and home buying more affordable. 

  • Lowering child care costs. 

  • Expanding access to government contracts for minority-owned small businesses.

During a tour stop on May 6 in Detroit, Harris said, “I believe every person in our country must have access to the opportunity to compete, to succeed, and to thrive; the ability to achieve what I call financial freedom, which means having enough not just to get by but to get ahead, to be able to build a business, to own a home, to start a family, and to create intergenerational wealth.”

As the first female vice president of the U.S., Harris has also been the administration’s face on issues that most impact women: abortion access and child care. Harris is a staunch supporter of reproductive rights and, in December, launched a nationwide “reproductive freedoms” tour. And in February, Harris announced rule changes designed to lower copayments for more than 100,000 families who receive federal child care assistance.

What was Harris’ economic record before her vice presidency?

In Harris’ earlier roles as California attorney general and later as a U.S. senator, she proposed:

  • Refundable tax credits for renters with qualified earnings.

  • A $3,000 per person refundable tax credit for middle- and working-class people through the LIFT (Livable Incomes for Families Today) the Middle Class Act.

  • A “Medicare for All” health care plan that retains private insurance. 

  • A $20,000 student debt forgiveness plan for Pell Grant recipients who create and run small businesses in disadvantaged areas.

  • Increasing public school teacher pay, funded by estate taxes on the wealthy.

Before becoming vice president, Harris served as a U.S. senator from California, attorney general of California and as the district attorney for the city of San Francisco. In early campaign appearances, she has drawn a sharp distinction between her work as a prosecutor and Trump’s ongoing legal issues, including his recent conviction on 34 felony counts.

NerdWallet’s 2024 election deep dives

What would the Trump economy look like? Find out where former President Donald Trump stands on economic issues like battling inflation, medical debt, jobs, health care, housing, child care, small businesses and more.

What a Trump win means for your personal finances and the economy When former President Donald Trump steps back into his Leader of the Free World shoes, he’ll need to get to work on some of the economic promises he’s made. Multiple analyses of Trump's economic plans project that his presidency is likely to reignite inflation.

What Trump’s win means for small business Here are some of the proposals that may have the biggest impacts on small-business owners across the U.S. including tariffs, tax cuts and more.

How Harris and Trump Want to Battle Inflation and Lower Prices Both presidential candidates are promising to give people what they want: to pay less money for most everything. But whether Trump or Harris are capable of lowering prices is debatable.

What Trump and Harris Have in Store for Your Taxes The campaign proposals that most directly impact your finances are tax cuts and credits, and the candidates’ positions couldn’t be more different.

Trump and Harris embrace no-tax-on-tips, experts say it’s bad policy The presidential candidates promise to exempt workers from paying taxes on their tips. But the problem with no-tax-on-tips proposals, experts say, is that they don’t address the fundamental needs of tipped workers.

How Trump and Harris Aim to Address Your Health Care When it comes to health care, the candidates have been light on the details. Harris has focused on things like lowering prescription drug prices; expanding Medicare care coverage; and restoring federal abortion rights. Trump says he supports IVF coverage, but wants to leave abortion to the states. He also said that he has only a “concept” of a plan to replace the Affordable Care Act.

Labor expert: Trump’s Immigration Plan Would ‘Wreak Havoc’ on Workforce, Economy If Trump were to be elected and able to enact his plans to remove millions of people, it could have disastrous effects on the economy. One labor expert explains why.

Harris v. Trump on Student Loans: Where the Candidates Stand As president, Harris would likely champion student loan relief and free community college. Trump would likely restrict or dismantle loan forgiveness and promote access to non-traditional degrees.

Can Kamala Harris Really Add New Housing, Make It Cheaper? Harris is pledging to create 3 million new homes and make housing more affordable, especially for first-time home buyers. Her housing plans are ambitious — and possibly unrealistic, experts say.

What happened during the debates?

Trump, Harris Spar on Economy and More in Feisty Debate On Sept. 10, at the first and only debate between the presidential candidates, Harris and Trump clashed over a number of policy proposals including the economy, abortion, climate change, energy, immigration and foreign policy.

VP Hopefuls Debate Economic Policy — More Substantively Than Their Running Mates On Oct. 1, economic topics took center stage in the vice presidential debate between Ohio Sen. JD Vance and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. The candidates defended their tickets while debating intensely on inflation, housing, child care and health care.

Smart Money’s 2024 Presidential Election Series

Hosts Sean Pyles and Anna Helhoski discuss the grand economic promises made by presidential candidates and the intricate realities of presidential influence on the economy to help you understand the real effects on your daily finances.

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