Kamala Harris in Interviews during 2018-2020
On Tax Reform:
Monthly tax credit would provide base income
Harris did introduce legislation to provide "middle class and working families with a tax credit of up to $6,000 a year--or up to $500 a month--to address the rising cost of living." It could fix one of the biggest drawbacks with the tax-credit system:
It's distributed just once a year. "A monthly payment would be responsive to that because it would provide you a base income you can rely on," says a senior research associate at the Tax Policy Center.
Source: Mother Jones magazine on 2020 Democratic primary
Apr 23, 2019
On Civil Rights:
Supports commission investigating reparations for slavery
At Al Sharpton's National Action Network convention in New York City, most of the 2020 contenders affirmed their support for a bill that would create a commission to study reparations for
African-Americans. "When I am elected president, I will sign that bill." Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., told Sharpton.
Source: CNBC: 2019 National Action Network & 2020 Democratic primary
Apr 5, 2019
On Homeland Security:
Domestic terrorism as national security priority
Harris pledged to double the size of the civil rights division of the Justice Department: "Justice means recognizing
domestic terrorism, including white nationalist extremism," which Harris said "should be considered a national security priority."
Source: CNBC: 2019 National Action Network & 2020 Democratic primary
Apr 5, 2019
On Education:
Federal money to subsidize teach pay raises
How, exactly, is this federal money supposed to end up in local teacher hands? Harris' plan calls on the feds to contribute the first 10% of the money needed to finance the raises (which are supposed to be, on average, $13,500 per teacher).
Then her administration will "incentivize states to step up and do their part" by offering a sort of three-to-one matching fund. For every dollar the state kicks in, the feds will kick in three.
Source: Forbes Magazine, "Four Reasons," on 2020 Democratic primary
Mar 26, 2019
On Crime:
Federal and state moratorium on death penalty
Kamala Harris said that there should be a federal moratorium on executions. The senator from California discussed the matter on National Public Radio, a day after Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom of California granted reprieves to 737 death row inmates and
signed an executive order placing a moratorium on executions.Harris was asked if there should be "a federal equivalent" to Newsom's order. She said, "Yes, I think that there should be."
Asked if no one would be executed if Harris was president,
she responded, "Correct, correct."
As California's attorney general, Harris defended the state's use of the death penalty. But in a statement this week, she said it is "immoral, discriminatory, ineffective, and a gross misuse of taxpayer dollars."
She noted that black and Latino defendants were more likely to be executed than white defendants, as were poor defendants with poor legal representation versus wealthier defendants with good legal representation.
Source: Associated Press on 2020 Democratic primary
Mar 14, 2019
On Crime:
2004: no death penalty for cop killer; 2019: apply to all
Harris says, "The symbol of our justice system is a woman with a blindfold. It is supposed to treat all equally, but the application of the death penalty--a final & irreversible punishment--has been proven to be unequally applied."As Harris launched
her presidential bid, she said she was running as a "progressive prosecutor." But she has drawn scrutiny from some liberals for "tough on crime" positions she held as a California prosecutor, with her stance on the death penalty among those issues.
As a district attorney in 2004, she drew national headlines with her decision not to seek the death penalty for the killer of a San Francisco police officer. That decision, announced days after the officer's death, enraged local law enforcement officials
However, a decade later, she appealed a judge's decision declaring California's death penalty law unconstitutional. While Harris has personally opposed the death penalty, she has said that she defended the law as a matter of professional obligation.
Source: Associated Press on 2020 Democratic primary
Mar 14, 2019
On Immigration:
2008: Supported SF policy reported arrested juveniles to ICE
Sen. Kamala Harris mischaracterized a 2008 policy she supported for a citywide policy enacted by then-Mayor Gavin Newsom of reporting juvenile undocumented immigrants arrested by local police to ICE. The decision revoked a previous policy of
non-reporting. Harris called the reporting of arrested juvenile undocumented immigrants before they were convicted of a felony an "unintended consequence" of the policy that she did not support. However, this was in fact the intent of the policy.
A Harris spokesman did not address the senator's mischaracterizations when contacted by CNN's KFile. "As Governor Newsom has said, the initial policy was intended to protect the sanctuary status of San Francisco, which
Senator Harris has always supported and defended," Harris spokesman Ian Sams said in a statement. "We have said this policy should have been done differently."
Source: CNN KFile, "Juveniles," on 2020 Democratic primary
Feb 27, 2019
On Immigration:
Reform system, against "vanity project" of border wall
Harris spokesman Ian Sams said in a statement, "As Senator, Harris is focused on protecting Dreamers, fighting this president's attempts to build a vanity project on the southern border, exercising more oversight of
ICE, reforming our immigration system with a path to citizenship. and reuniting families separated by this administration. Those will be her priorities should she be elected president."
Source: CNN KFile, "Juveniles," on 2020 Democratic primary
Feb 27, 2019
On Civil Rights:
Reparations means real investments in black communities
Elizabeth Warren said that Native Americans should be "part of the conversation" on reparations for African-Americans. Her fellow 2020 hopefuls Kamala Harris and Julian Castro have come out in favor of reparations for African Americans but have
so far not gone as far as Warren in opening the door to reparations for Native Americans."We have to be honest that people in this country do not start from the same place or have access to the same opportunities,"
Harris said in the statement. "I'm serious about taking an approach that would change policies and structures and make real investments in black communities."
Since reparations are in response to
African-Americans impacted by slavery, presumably reparations for Native Americans would be to make amends for crimes and abuses committed on the Native population by the U.S. government over America's history.
Source: Fox News on 2020 Democratic primary hopefuls
Feb 23, 2019
On Civil Rights:
Rename Columbus Day as Indigenous Peoples' Day
Sen. Kamala Harris said that she would push for the federal government to rename Columbus Day "Indigenous Peoples' Day," a focal point for some progressives who say the holiday should emphasize the history of Native Americans instead of the
European conqueror. "Sign me up," Harris said in response to a voter's question of whether she would support the initiative to rename the holiday. She spoke of her own efforts in the Senate to make lynching a federal crime.
Harris's competitor, Sen. Cory Booker, was asked the same question in New Hampshire Sunday, but did not commit to renaming the holiday. "I'd like to talk more about why you think it's important on a federal level,"
Booker told voters. "My commitment to you and indigenous peoples is to tell the truth, to work to address the issues, and to find a way to have real recognition and healing."
Source: Buzzfeed blog on 2020 Democratic primary hopefuls
Feb 18, 2019
On Welfare & Poverty:
LIFT Act and Rent Relief: $42 billion to people in poverty
Kamala Harris's LIFT the Middle Class Act and Rent Relief Act are a massive expansion of the EITC, which provides supplemental cash to low-income people who work. The LIFT Act (Livable Incomes for Families Today, estimated cost $247 billion a year)
would add another credit tied to work paid out monthly at a rate of $3,000 a year for childless single adults and $6,000 a year for couples or parents, phasing out for couples who make $100,000. The Rent Relief Act ($93 billion a year)
would offer a refundable tax credit to people making $100,000 or less and spending at least 30% of their income on rent. The credit would be worth a certain percentage of the difference
between their rent and 30% of their income. For the poorest renters, the credit would cover the full difference; for slightly less poor renters, 75%, and so on.
The LIFT Act Rent Relief Act would provide $42 billion to people in poverty.
Source: Vox.com,"5 anti-poverty plans" on 2020 Democratic primary
Jan 30, 2019
On Energy & Oil:
Climate change important, but not only issue
"On the issue of climate change: Every parent wants to know that their child can drink clean water and breathe clean air. And that same parent wants to know that they're able to bring home enough money with one job to pay their bills and pay their rent
and put food on the table, instead of having to work two or three jobs," she said. "Every person wants to know that there will be a criminal-justice system that is fair to all people, regardless of their race.."
Source: The Atlantic, "Pick a Lane," on 2020 Democratic primary
Jan 22, 2019
On Principles & Values:
Co-sponsored Do No Harm Act: keep church and state separate
The Do No Harm Act, a bill that's designed to ensure that the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) continues to provide important protections for religious exercise while clarifying that RFRA may not be used to discriminate against or
otherwise harm others, was introduced in the Senate in May. Kamala Harris co-introduced the legislation.Americans United supports the legislation. AU's President said that "the Do No Harm Act will ensure that we honor two core
American values: religious freedom and the promise of equal protection under the law."
Congress enacted the federal RFRA in 1993 with the goal of protecting religious freedom, especially for religious minorities. At that time, a broad coalition of
progressive & conservative groups supported the law. But since then, the federal RFRA has been misinterpreted by some courts and has become a vehicle for those who want to use religion to undermine protections for civil rights and access to health care.
Source: Church & State Magazine, AU.org, on 2020 Democratic primary
Aug 8, 2018
Page last updated: Dec 01, 2021