WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris has launched a new advertising campaign to draw attention to its plan to build 3 million new homes over four years, a move designed to contain inflationary pressures which contrasts sharply with the Republican Party Donald Trump’s approach.
Democratic presidential nominee Harris is highlighting her plan in a new one-minute ad that draws on her personal experience growing up in rental housing while her mother saved for a decade before she could buy a home. The ad targets voters in key swing states, including Arizona and Nevada. Campaign officials are also holding 20 events this week focused on housing issues.
In addition to increasing housing construction, Harris proposes that the government provide as much as possible $25,000 in assistance for first-time buyers. This message is all the more important as housing costs continue to weigh on the consumer price index. Housing costs have increased 5.1% over the past 12 months, while overall inflation is running at 2.9%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“Vice President Harris knows we need to do more to solve our housing crisis, which is why she has a plan to end the housing shortage” and will crack down on “the corporate landlords and Wall Street banks who are driving up rents and housing costs,” said Dan Kanninen, the campaign’s key states director.
The Harris plan provides tax breaks for homebuilders focused on first-time buyers and expands existing incentives for companies that build rental housing. Because local zoning often limits housing supply, it would also double the funding available to $40 billion to encourage local governments to remove regulations that prevent additional housing from being built.
Although Trump has made a reputation for real estate real estate developer, real estate data shows that there was a shortage of available housing during his presidency and that this shortage continues.
The shortage became even more problematic as inflation surged as the country recovered from the pandemic and faced higher food and energy costs after Russia invaded Ukraine. High inflation has hurt the approval ratings of President Joe Biden, whom Republicans and some economists have blamed for triggering the price spike with his pandemic relief efforts.
Mortgage rates have reached prohibitive levels for many potential buyers. At the same time, many homeowners have delayed listing their properties, compounding the inflation problem.
Trump has floated a series of ideas to reduce housing costs, including his suggestion in a June speech in Wisconsin that ending illegal immigration would reduce demand for housing and lower prices.
“I will also stop inflation by stopping the invasion and rapidly reducing housing costs,” Trump said.
There is also the possibility of opening up more federal land for housing. Economists sympathetic to Trump’s agenda have suggested that — despite the rising deficits during his presidency — Trump would be able to rein in federal spending if he were president again, which would lower interest rates.
But Trump’s main argument has been that Harris can’t afford his housing program, even as he also attacks her for supporting Biden’s proposed tax hikes and other stimulus measures that could theoretically offset the costs.
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“She has no idea how she was able to pay $25,000 to every first-time buyer, including illegals,” Trump said at an Aug. 19 rally in York, Pennsylvania, claiming without clear evidence that his policies would support immigrants without legal status.
The Harris campaign plans to hold events on housing affordability in the Pennsylvania cities of Lancaster, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, as well as in the Arizona cities of Phoenix and Tucson.
Events will also be held in Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada, and Asheville and Charlotte, North Carolina, in addition to Savannah, Georgia.
