As Kamala Harris gears up for the 2024 election cycle, she is positioning herself as a candidate focused on equity, economic opportunity, and justice for all Americans. With a strong background as a U.S. senator and former attorney general of California, Harris’s policy platform reflects her priorities in areas such as criminal justice reform, climate change, healthcare, and economic opportunity. Here’s a look at some of the key campaign promises she has put forward.
Kamala Harris has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform, despite criticisms of her record as a prosecutor. For her 2024 campaign, she emphasizes reducing mass incarceration and reforming the prison system. Key elements of her plan include:
- Eliminating mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent offenses.
- Investing in rehabilitation programs rather than punitive measures.
- Decriminalizing marijuana at the federal level and expunging past marijuana-related convictions.
- Ending private prisons and for-profit detention centers, which she believes contribute to unjust incarceration practices.
- Comprehensive police reform, including banning chokeholds and no-knock warrants, and establishing stronger federal oversight of police departments.
2. Climate Change and Green Economy
As a champion of environmental protection, Harris’s climate agenda is ambitious. She supports bold climate action that not only addresses the existential threat of global warming but also creates jobs and strengthens the economy. Her plan includes:
- Rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement and committing to stronger emissions reduction targets.
- Transitioning to 100% clean energy by 2035, focusing on renewable sources like wind, solar, and geothermal.
- Investing in green technology and infrastructure, creating millions of high-paying, sustainable jobs in the process.
- Enforcing stronger environmental protections to ensure clean air and water for all Americans, particularly marginalized communities disproportionately affected by pollution.
- Support for environmental justice initiatives that focus on low-income communities and communities of color.
3. Healthcare for All
Harris has long been an advocate for expanding healthcare access. While she once supported Medicare for All, her current plan involves a more moderate approach aimed at expanding access while preserving choice. Key components of her healthcare platform include:
- Strengthening the Affordable Care Act by creating a public option, allowing Americans to buy into a government-run insurance plan.
- Lowering prescription drug prices through government negotiations with pharmaceutical companies.
- Expanding mental health services and incorporating them more fully into healthcare systems.
- Addressing racial disparities in healthcare, ensuring that people of all backgrounds have equal access to care.
- Reproductive rights: Harris is a strong advocate for women’s rights to make decisions about their bodies, including access to safe and legal abortion.
4. Economic Justice and Opportunity
Economic inequality is a core issue for Kamala Harris, and her campaign promises focus on creating an economy that works for all, not just the wealthy. Her proposals include:
- Raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour to ensure that all workers are paid a living wage.
- Expanding the Child Tax Credit and other family support policies to alleviate child poverty and support working families.
- Investing in small businesses, particularly those owned by women and minorities, through grants and loan programs.
- Tax reforms aimed at ensuring the wealthy and large corporations pay their fair share, closing loopholes that benefit the ultra-rich.
- Guaranteeing paid family leave, ensuring that all workers can take time off to care for a new child or sick family member without risking their jobs.
5. Racial Justice and Equality
As the first woman of South Asian and African-American descent to be elected vice president, Kamala Harris places a strong emphasis on racial equity and justice. Her campaign platform includes several key promises aimed at addressing systemic racism and promoting equality:
- Establishing a national task force on racial justice, which will recommend policies to address structural racism in housing, education, employment, and healthcare.
- Criminal justice reforms focused on eliminating racial disparities in sentencing and law enforcement practices.
- Targeted economic programs for Black and Brown communities, including homeownership assistance and entrepreneurship support.
- Reparations study: Harris supports legislation that would study the issue of reparations for African-Americans as a way to address historical injustices tied to slavery and segregation.
Kamala Harris supports comprehensive immigration reform that focuses on human rights and economic growth. Her key promises include:
- Creating a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers (those brought to the U.S. as children) and other undocumented immigrants living and working in the U.S.
- Reforming the immigration detention system, ensuring humane treatment for those seeking asylum and ending the use of for-profit detention centers.
- Restoring and expanding DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) to protect young immigrants from deportation.
- Addressing root causes of migration by providing aid to Central American countries struggling with violence and economic instability.
- Protecting immigrant workers and preventing workplace exploitation by ensuring labor laws apply to all workers, regardless of their immigration status.
7. Education and Workforce Development
Harris has a strong focus on making education and workforce training more equitable and accessible, especially for underserved communities. Her promises include:
- Expanding access to early childhood education, particularly for low-income families, by providing universal pre-K.
- Making community college tuition-free, and reducing the cost of attending public universities for lower- and middle-income families.
- Student loan debt forgiveness for those working in public service or non-profit sectors, and ensuring that students aren’t burdened by lifelong debt.
- Investing in job training programs and apprenticeships to prepare workers for jobs in emerging industries, particularly in clean energy and technology.
- Addressing disparities in K-12 education, with more funding for schools in low-income neighborhoods and higher teacher pay to attract quality educators.
Conclusion
Kamala Harris’s campaign promises reflect her vision of an America that is more just, inclusive, and equitable. Her focus on criminal justice reform, economic equality, healthcare access, and climate action demonstrates her commitment to tackling the nation’s most pressing issues. While some of her positions have evolved over time, her 2024 platform remains rooted in her lifelong commitment to fighting for the rights of the marginalized and creating opportunities for all Americans.