What we know — and don’t know — about the Harris policy agenda

By the time most presidential nominees reach the stage at their parties’ national conventions, they’ve usually spent months hammering out their policy priorities.

But Vice President Harris only began her race on July 21, when President Biden stepped aside and passed her the torch.

While Democrats have been thrilled with the fresh energy Harris has brought to the race, her campaign speeches to date have been long on vibes and short on actual platforms. Many of her positions are based on proposals originally made by Biden that he and Democrats were unable to get through Congress.

As the Democratic National Convention gets underway this week, here are some highlights of what she’s said so far about what she would do if she wins in November.

The economy

Harris gave her first major policy speech on what she would do to address the high costs of housing, groceries, health care and raising kids. Her proposals include:

• Tax breaks for homebuilders with the goal of building 3 million new housing units in four years
• Up to $25,000 in down-payment aid for first-time homebuyers
• Up to $6,000 for low- and middle-income families with new babies
• Up to $3,600 per child per year in an expanded child tax credit
• A ban on price gouging in the food sector, singling out meat prices in particular
• Work with states to ban the use of medical debt in credit scores

In other campaign speeches, Harris has said she would:

• Ban hidden bank fees 
• Hike the minimum wage
• Ban taxes on tips for service and hospitality workers
• Support affordable child care and paid family leave

So far, there have been few details on:

• The overall costs of these new measures
• Whether Harris would raise taxes or cut other spending to pay for them
• Who would qualify for the various incentives

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