In Carnegie Mellon speech, Harris pledges 'New Way Forward' on economy

When Vice President Kamala Harris rolled out an economic agenda on Wednesday afternoon, she did so on the campus of Carnegie Mellon University — a school famous for its innovative research but rooted in a city known for its industrial past.

The Democratic Presidential nominee's economic proposals, which her campaign is billing as a "New Way Forward," similarly seek to build a bridge to a cutting-edge future with an agenda that draws upon existing approaches.

"I call my vision the opportunity economy," Harris said early on in a 40-minute speech before an enthusiastic crowd at CMU's Chosky Theater. "And it’s about making sure everyone can find a job, and more. ... I want Americans and families to be able to not just get by, but be able to get ahead.”

The goal, according to a statement from her campaign, is to create a policy in which "America invests in the most strategic industries of the future, with a plan to ensure workers and communities share in the benefits of those investments."

At the heart of the plan are what Harris is calling "America Forward Tax Credits," which will be targeted to industries deemed crucial to future economic growth and national security.

Those industries include expanding the domestic semiconductor industry, developing clean energy manufacturing, and investing in artificial intelligence and the network of data centers necessary to support it.

The value of the credits will be linked to the treatment of workers — a mechanism to enhance protections for union organizing, among other workplace concerns.

The credits can also be enhanced for businesses that invest in what the campaign calls "longstanding manufacturing, energy, and agricultural communities," citing the Mon Valley as an example.

"We will prioritize investments [that strengthen] factory towns — this is so important — retooling existing factories, hiring locally and working with unions," Harris said. Communities that helped create America's manufacturing base, she said, should not be abandoned.

The spirit of the proposals, and some of the individual ideas themselves, build on outgoing President Joe Biden's own interest in crafting a national industrial policy that encourages investment in select industries and particular places — especially in Rust Belt communities and other areas that bore the brunt of disinvestment. Biden's CHIPS and Science Act, and the creation of workforce hubs in places like Pittsburgh, are examples of the approach Harris seems ready to build on.

Additionally, Harris proposes to ease professional licensing requirements and remove "unnecessary" college degree requirements from as many as 500,000 federal jobs — a move her campaign says would "promote meaningful pathways for those without college degrees."

"Let’s eliminate degree requirements while increasing skills," Harris said.

Some of those ideas may sound familiar to Pennsylvanians: Gov. Josh Shapiro made similar moves early in his administration, even if he cribbed the idea of easing college-degree requirements from former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican.

And in fact, Donald Trump himself sought to scale back degree requirements during his own administration.

In a statement, the Trump campaign accused Harris of "regurgitat[ing] proposals she plagiarized directly" from him.

Harris didn't source the idea to Trump, but her speech did assert that "part of being pragmatic is taking ideas from where they come.”

Such efforts seem unlikely to impress at least one Republican. Sam DeMarco, who chairs the Republican Committee of Allegheny County, issued a statement prior to Harris' appearance that said her visit was "akin to Robert Oppenheimer visiting Hiroshima to discuss nuclear safety."

DeMarco blamed a raft of problems — ranging from the region's ebbing workforce to the city of Pittsburgh's fiscal headaches — on Democrats

But Democrats seem prepared to return fire: A release announcing the new policies calls Trump's presidency "a tale of broken promises," in which he failed to deliver big infrastructure investments he repeatedly pledged to make. Democrats also criticize his 2017 tax cuts for disproportionately benefiting the wealthy.

Trump routinely — including as recently as Monday during his rally in Indiana County — refers to Harris as a communist. Harris pushed back on that characterization on Wednesday, asserting at one point, "Look, I am a capitalist. I believe in free and fair markets." But drawing on her record of pursuing allegations of corporate wrongdoing when she was California's attorney general, she also said that "companies need to play by the rules. And if they don't, I will hold them accountable."

Harris offered a similar carrot-and-stick approach to a national housing shortage, pledging to "take on corporate landlords who are hiking rental prices" while also promising to "cut the red tape that stops homes from being built."

Harris said little about what those regulatory changes would be. While federal environmental reviews can delay construction and infrastructure, housing construction is often delayed by zoning rules that are crafted at the local level.

Also unclear was how Harris would accomplish other goals, such as increasing the number of apprenticeships. Trump's campaign argued the speech was a "word salad," which included "zero specifics, zero vision, and zero solutions," and suggested that many of the problems, such as a surge in inflation, were the fault of Democrats' policies.

Harris, though, argued that rising prices and other problems were driven by larger economic forces, including Trump's own policies.

"The cost of living in America is still just too high. You know it and I know it," she said. But she added, "that was true long before the pandemic hit."

Before her remarks, the vice president met with local leaders and rank-and-file members of the United Steelworkers employed by U.S. Steel, where she reiterated her position that the company should remain American-owned and -operated, and that as president she would always have the backs of American steelworkers.