Harris to announce 4-year plan to lower housing costs
Vice President Kamala Harris plans to announce Friday what her campaign is describing as a four-year plan to lower housing costs, including $25,000 in down payment assistance for first-time homeowners and actions aimed at spurring the construction of new housing, including tax incentives for building starter homes.
Harris intends to announce this plan as a part of a broader economic policy speech in North Carolina. As CNN has previously reported, the vice president is also announcing a proposal for a federal ban on price gouging aimed at lowering grocery costs.
Campaign officials had also said that she plans to address on Friday prescription drug prices in her policy rollout. That had been the focus of a Thursday event in Maryland, where Harris and President Joe Biden appeared together on stage for the first time since the president dropped out of the 2024 race.
High costs of housing and food have been some of the most stubborn economic challenges for the Biden-Harris administration, as Biden has received low marks on his handling of the economy more broadly. White House officials in recent days have touted falling inflation but also acknowledged that prices for many goods remain too high, creating a disconnect between bright spots in the economy and public sentiment.
“We hear you. The president hears you. The vice president hears you,” Council of Economic Advisers chairman Jared Bernstein said Wednesday in a White House news briefing when asked about Americans who do not believe the economy is in better shape now than when Biden first took office.
Addressing the nation’s affordable housing crisis has also been on Biden’s radar, with the president unveiling new proposals to tackle it in his State of the Union address in March.
He announced two new tax credits aimed at improving affordability and increasing the availability of homes on the market for purchase or rent. One $10,000 refundable tax credit is designed to help middle class homebuyers close a deal on their first home. The other $10,000 tax credit is aimed at pushing middle class people to put their starter homes on the market.
Additionally, the president called on Congress to pass legislation that he says could result in the building and renovation of more than 2 million homes to close the housing supply gap and lower housing costs.
Last month, Biden called for withdrawing tax credits from landlords who raise rent by more than 5% per year.
All these proposals require congressional approval.
The Biden administration is also urging federal agencies to review whether surplus federally owned land could be used to build affordable homes.
Former President Donald Trump touted a similar proposal in two campaign events this week.
“We’re going to open up tracts of federal land for housing construction,” he said in a news conference Thursday. “We desperately need housing for people who can’t afford what’s going on now.”
In addition, the Republican National Committee platform says that the party will “promote homeownership with tax incentives and support for first-time buyers and cut unnecessary regulations that raise housing costs,” as well as “reduce mortgage rates by slashing inflation.”
This story has been updated with additional details.
