2024 Elections: Where both candidates stand on the major issues 

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With the 2024 presidential election less than a month away, there is a lot of information (and misinformation) about where the candidates stand on major issues that impact American voters. Using information from a variety of non-partisan sources, we’ve summarized where the candidates stand on key issues as well as provided resources to find more unbiased information about presidential and other candidates’ stances before casting your vote.

Abortion:

Harris has stated that she will urge congress to reinstate access to abortion nationally as it was before the historic 2022 Supreme Court decision that essentially overturned Roe v. Wade.

In the past, Trump has supported the Supreme Court’s ruling that abortion access should be decided a the state level. He is unclear as to whether or not he would sign a blanket federal abortion ban. However, he has indicated that he would support a federal ban after a certain length of pregnancy. It is unclear if there would be exemptions if the mother’s life was in danger.

Crime:

Harris took a tough-on-crime approach as a District Attorney, but now has called for criminal justice reform, especially for non-violent drug offenses. She has also suggested temporarily pausing the death penalty.

Trump believes in giving police more authority to fight crime. He has called for more funding to train and hire police as well as pushed for qualified immunity of law enforcement. He has also called for the national guard to assist local police as needed.

Economy:

While she initially proposed repealing the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in its entirety, it appears that Harris now plans to extend the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act provisions for those making less than $400,000 a year, expand the child tax credit and earned income tax credit, and add more funding to subsidize Affordable Care Act premiums. Harris said that she will end taxes on tips. She plans to pay for this by raising corporate tax and capital gains rates both from 21% to 28% and increasing tax rates for wealthier Americans and large corporations. Under her plan, billionaires would have a minimum tax rate of 25%. Harris has proposed lowering taxes for small businesses. Harris has proposed expansions to the Child Tax Credit (CTC).

Trump also plans to extend the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act provisions. Trump says that he will end taxes on overtime pay and Social Security benefits for individuals and reduce the corporate tax rate to 15% for domestic American manufacturers. Trump has also said that he will end taxes on tips. Trump will pay for this by imposing tariffs of between 10% to 20% on every foreign import coming into the US from places other than China. Imports from China would have a tariff rate of over 60%. He has also said that he will reduce corporate taxes in order to stimulate hiring and economic growth. While Trump has not explicitly stated whether or not he believes in expansions to the Child Tax Credit (CTC), his running mate JD Vance has indicated that like Harris, he also supports expansion.

Education

Harris has said that she will continue to work towards reducing burdensome student loan debt and provide more funding for colleges and universities (especially HBCUs), including technical training.

Trump has said that he will eliminate the Department of Education. This would leave the oversight of public schools to the states if they chose to have oversight in the matter.

Environment:

Harris has said that she plans to reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil. She plans to continue Biden’s plans to offer tax incentives for eco-friendly initiatives at the corporate and individual level (such as tax credits for the purchase of electric vehicles). She has said that she plans to address how environmental issues often disproportionally impact poor and minority communities, but she has not laid out specific measures to do so.

Trump has said that he will end the “Green New Deal atrocities” on his first day in office. It is assumed that he was referring to certain Biden administration energy policies, which include vehicle greenhouse gas emissions limits and increases in fuel economy standards. He also plans to reduce American dependence on foreign oil by expediting natural gas pipelines into the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and New York as well as tap into stores of liquid gold for energy development. He will also exit the Paris Climate Agreement as he did when he was in office (Biden rejoined during his term). He also plans to fight harder against certain legal challenges from environmentalists.

Healthcare:

While in office, Trump made an unsuccessful attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare. He has indicated that he will seek to repeal and replace it with a “better” plan, although specifics have not been provided. Trump has also been vocal about putting caps on life-saving prescription medications such as insulin. During his tenure in office, he pressed for work requirements and more vetting as conditions for Medicaid eligibility.

During her tenure as VP, Harris and the Biden administration enacted the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), which temporarily expanded eligibility for and increased ACA Marketplace subsidies, which are set to continue through 2025 as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. 

Housing Crisis:

Harris has said that she will advocate for more federal funding to provide affordable housing and reduce homelessness.

Trump has said that he will encourage more construction of new homes by incentivizing homebuilders to build new affordable homes.

Neither candidate has explicitly addressed whether or not they will regulate corporations abilities to buy multiple residential properties.

Israel/Gaza:

Harris has been critical of Hamas and supported Israel’s right to defend itself, but does not support further Israeli invasions into Palestinian territory. She has called for a cease-fire and has said that she supports a two-state solution.

Trump has expressed both support and criticism for Israel, but largely believes that the United States should keep involvement to a minimum. 

Marijuana Legalization:

Despite her aggressive prosecution of marijuana-related crimes while district attorney and attorney general, Harris now supports full marijuana legalization at the federal level, explaining that marijuana laws have historically targeted minorities in the past. She has also called for nonviolent marijuana-related criminal offenses to be expunged.

Trump has indicated that he supports the legalization of marijuana and the possible expungement of marijuana-related criminal offenses, but believes that it should be decided at the state level rather than the federal level.

Ukraine:

Harris has repeatedly expressed support for Ukraine and during her tenure with the Biden administration, announced that about $1.5 billion in aid would be sent to Ukraine for infrastructure and other civilian assistance. 

Trump has not taken an official side in the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia (referring to it more than once as a proxy war), but said that brokering a peace deal will be a high priority once he is in office. Trump has made no indication that he will continue to fund Ukraine’s efforts.

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