Kamala Harris’ Pledge of a $100 Billion Tax Credit: Where Would It Go and Who Would It Affect?
Written by
T. Woods
Edited by
Chris Cluff
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When Kamala Harris delivered her speech for the Economic Club of Pittsburgh at Carnegie Mellon’s University Philip Chosky Theater in September, she laid out her economic vision for America’s future.
As reported by The Wall Street Journal, for those voters who might have found Harris’ policy details to be less than concrete, the speech allowed for her to elaborate upon an economic plan defined by pragmatism. Harris also focused on middle-class jobs and a massive series of tax credits designed to spur and continue growth in the manufacturing sector.
Harris described her vision as “the opportunity economy,” in which her goal is to ensure that “everyone can find a job, and more,” and said she wants “Americans and families to be able to not just get by, but be able to get ahead.”
Who the Tax Credits Would Impact
A fundamental aspect of Harris’ plan is to invest in the industries most strategic to America’s future in order to ensure that workers and their communities reap the reward of that investment. As such, Harris has centered her economic strategy around what she has called “America Forward Tax Credits”: $100 billion in tax credits directed toward industries that are considered essential to America’s economic growth, as well as its security — such as clean energy manufacturing, development of artificial intelligence and the American semiconductor sector.
Further, the credits could be boosted for companies that invest in “longstanding manufacturing, energy and agricultural communities,” in a bid that could appeal to Rust Belt workers and voters. Elsewhere, credits would be valuated depending on how businesses treat their workers, a plan devised to help protect unions and employees.
Other Plans for Workers
Speaking of employee benefits, Harris also noted that she plans to remove college degree requirements from approximately 500,000 federal jobs as a means to “promote meaningful pathways for those without college degrees.” As she described it, this would “eliminate degree requirements while increasing skills.”
In total, Harris’ plan is specifically attuned to the needs of America’s middle-class workers while also building a bridge to the business sectors that will grow in America’s future. As to whether that plan will connect with voters, that won’t be known until Election Day — Tuesday, Nov. 5.
Editor’s note on election coverage: GOBankingRates is nonpartisan and strives to cover all aspects of the economy objectively and present balanced reports on politically focused finance stories. You can find more coverage of this topic on GOBankingRates.com.
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