During the Biden administration, the America Rescue Plan Act of 2021 temporarily expanded the Child Tax Credit from $2,000 to $3,600 per child, resulting in a 30% decrease in childhood poverty rates. This expanded credit expired in 2022 and “millions of children were plunged back into poverty.” Now, Harris has proposed offering a $6,000 child tax credit for parents of newborns and making the tax credit fully refundable.

The federal is currently $2,000 per child and partially refundable. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has not offered specifics for his child tax credit plan. His running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, has proposed a $5,000 tax credit but the Trump campaign has not formally adopted that proposal. 

• Citing her child tax credit policy, Fox’s Will Cain accused Harris of “taking the rest of her campaign proposals from Team Trump.” Trump national campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt later accused Harris of “plagiarizing from President Trump.” [Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, 8/16/24]
• Fox star Sean Hannity claimed that Harris’ child tax credit policy was “stolen right from Donald Trump.” [Fox News, Hannity, 8/16/24]
• Fox anchor Trace Gallagher played a clip of Harris at a rally talking about her child tax credit proposal, saying, “Here is Kamala Harris again copying another Trump policy.” [Fox News, Fox News @ Night, 8/16/24]
• Fox anchor Martha MacCallum claimed Harris was “stepping on a lot of” the Trump campaign’s policy proposals, including the child tax credit. [Fox News, The Story with Martha MacCallum, 8/19/24]
• Fox host Jeanine Pirro questioned, “Why does Kamala always copy Donald Trump?” Complaining about the child tax credit, Pirro said, “President Trump started it and then she upped it.” [Fox News, The Five, 9/23/24]

Harris has proposed a down-payment assistance of $25,000 to first-time home buyers who have paid their rent on time for two years, with additional support for first-generation home buyers. According to the National Association of Realtors, the average down payment for a home in 2023 was 8%, the highest rate since 1997, and the proposal also aims to help first-generation homebuyers who have historically faced more difficulty covering the payment than those with generational wealth. Additionally, Harris called for “the construction of 3 million new housing units and stopping Wall Street investors from buying homes in bulk” through a $40 billion innovation fund.

An analysis of the proposal by The Brookings Institution claimed “in areas where developers will respond to rising prices by building more homes, demand-side housing subsidies will have a more muted impact on prices.” Brookings also detailed academic studies that found previous housing credits “boosted home sales” and resulted in “only a modest impact” on prices.

• Fox anchor Dana Perino argued that Harris’ credit for first-time home buyers will “keep prices artificially high.” [Fox News, America’s Newsroom, 8/16/24] 
• Fox host Laura Ingraham claimed that Harris’ “nightmarish idea … will only result in higher housing costs as more people rush into the housing market.” Ingraham continued, “It's just another artificial sugar high created by printing or borrowing money.” [Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 8/16/24]
• Sean Hannity complained that Harris has “no plan to pay for” her homeowner subsidy policy “other than printing money, which will cause another huge spike in prices for entry-level homes and will reduce supply.” He added, “This massive spending plan will exacerbate the inflation she helped cause in the first place.” [Fox News, Hannity, 8/16/24] 
• Reacting to Harris’ homeowner subsidy policy, Fox guest Kevin O’Leary claimed his Gen Z family members agree that “if you give everybody free money, you're just going to cause inflation.” He continued, “If everybody in the street has an extra $25,000 and there’s only one home for sale, the seller is going to get the $25,000 by raising the price $25,000.” [Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 8/30/24]

Harris’ “Opportunity Agenda” includes many economic initiatives that would target historically marginalized Black communities, including offering “1 million forgivable loans to Black entrepreneurs and new pathways to help Black Americans succeed in the legalized marijuana industry.” The policy proposals also include offering “loans of up to $20,000 to Black entrepreneurs and others” that “would be financed through partnerships between ‘mission-driven lenders,’ community oriented banks and the Small Business Administration.” Additionally, Harris’ proposal calls for investing in recruiting Black male teachers, legalizing recreational marijuana, and creating a health initiative to address “sickle cell disease, diabetes, mental health, prostate cancer, and other health challenges that disproportionately affect” Black men.

Harris has voiced support for Congress taking the lead on investigating reparations, which she reiterated during a September 17 interview hosted by the National Association of Black Journalists, but did not include reparations in any of her proposed economic policies.

• Fox host Jesse Watters attacked Harris’ Opportunity Agenda program as “reparations in disguise.” Watters also likened the program to “massive welfare checks” and asked, “How do you prove you're Black? I'm .1%. Do I qualify?” [Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, 10/14/24]
• Watters called Harris' proposal to help Black-owned businesses “reparations” and “welfare,” adding, “She’s like DEI Santa Claus.” Watters ranted: “A forgivable loan is a welfare check. So, that's a $20,000 welfare check to a Black entrepreneur. … They're going to give 25 grand to first-time home buyers. That's reparations. She's like DEI Santa Claus.” [Fox News, The Five, 10/15/24]
• On Special Report, podcast host Josh Holmes reduced Harris’ agenda to “a bunch of economic proposals that basically amount to legalizing drugs and exploring reparations.” [Fox News, Special Report with Bret Baier, 10/15/24]
• Watters argued that Harris’ failed promise of reparations has now led her to trying to “win the Black vote with free money and drugs.” Watters added: “Did Kamala even come up with this pitch? Or did her white handler sit around thinking, ‘Black people love handouts and getting high. Let's give this a shot.’” [Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, 10/15/24]