(NewsNation) — Vice President Kamala Harris spoke at a rally in New Hampshire Wednesday to unveil another part of her economic plan focusing on small businesses as less than nine weeks remain in the presidential election.
Harris’ visit to New Hampshire comes as an effort to reveal more of her economic agenda but also to generate support in a state former President Donald Trump says could be significant in the election.
Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, announced her proposal aimed at boosting business and the needs faced by American entrepreneurs, saying it was one of her “highest priorities.”
“America’s small businesses are an essential foundation to our entire economy,” Harris said at the rally.
“They’re building a better future for their employees and for the people they love in their communities, and by extension, they’re building a stronger middle class and a stronger America for us all.”
New details of Harris’ economic plan
Harris discussed several aspects of her “opportunity economy” plan, which she first introduced in North Carolina a little over two weeks ago.
She announced a multipronged approach to undertake this, which includes cutting taxes from small businesses and lowering the cost of starting a new business.
Harris also said she would expand the small business tax deduction from $5,000 to $50,000, which is ten times the current relief.
“It’s essentially a tax cut for starting a small business,” she said.
Her plan also provides incentives for local governments to cut so-called “red tape” by simplifying tax filing for small businesses and setting a goal of 25 million new small business applications in her first term.
There have been 19 million small business applications under the Biden administration so far.
The vice president said she would also expand access to venture capital, innovation hubs and business incubators with a focus on rural communities.
Harris aimed to keep a focus on the middle class, saying this is a plan for “everyone” to get ahead, calling out Trump.
“He plans to give billionaires massive tax cuts and to cut corporate taxes by over a trillion dollars, even as they pull in record profits,” she said of Trump. “His plans will add more than $5 trillion to the national debt, and that is on top of the $2 trillion tax cut he gave them when he was president and when he exploded the deficit.”
Trump has slammed Harris’ economic plan, claiming that her proposals will make costs “100 times worse.”
“If you think things are expensive now, they will get 100 times WORSE if Kamala gets four years as President,” Trump wrote on X.
Trump trying to court New Hampshire
Trump believes New Hampshire will make a significant dent in the election, saying “it could come down” to the state.
He slammed Harris and the Democratic Party for making South Carolina first in the nation for the Democratic primary, which took the title away from New Hampshire.
“They totally disrespected New Hampshire and threw them aside,” Trump said. “I actually said when they do it, ‘Well, you can’t win New Hampshire’ … it’s a very important place in terms of winning this election. It could come down to New Hampshire. I think New Hampshire’s going to play a big role. I have a feeling.”
Trump hasn’t visited the state since January, when he won the Republican primary.
Democrats have won New Hampshire in every election since 2000, but state officials from both parties say the state is still a battleground, reported WMUR.
“New Hampshire has traditionally been a very purple battleground state where Republicans and Democrats duke it out on a national scale,” Scott Spradling, a political analyst, told the outlet.