Harris unveils an economic plan focused on housing and grocery prices

Vice President Harris is set to unveil an economic plan on Friday that will focus on the high cost of housing and groceries — top-of-mind expenses for voters pinched by years of rising prices.

In Raleigh, N.C., Harris will give the first major policy address of her campaign. It's a city where her campaign is highlighting innovative affordable housing developments — in a state that Democrats are trying to win the presidential race for the first time since 2008.

Polls have shown Biden has struggled to get credit for his efforts to lower prices and many voters continue to trust Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump more on the economy — but polls also show that voters are less critical of Harris on economic issues.

"While our economy is doing well by many measures, prices for everyday things like groceries are still too high. You know it and I know it," Harris said on the campaign trail in Las Vegas on Aug. 10.

On Friday, Harris will announce a proposal for tax breaks that her campaign said would lead to 3 million new housing units in four years, going beyond a Biden White House proposal to ease housing shortages with 2 million new and renovated homes.

Harris' plan would give unspecified tax incentives to homebuilders for houses geared to first-time buyers and for affordable rental housing. She would propose a $40 billion fund to help local governments finance developments, up from a $20 billion proposal from the Biden White House. Like all spending, these proposals would depend on Congress being willing to fund them.

Harris would ask Congress to give first-time homeowners up to $25,000 toward their down payments — a plan that her campaign said could help more than 4 million first-time buyers. That is more generous