Democratic presidential hopeful Kamala Harris tackled the criminal justice system, minimum wage, the public education system, climate change and the country's economy at her first formal New Hampshire event on Tuesday.
Harris stopped by "Politics & Eggs" as the featured speaker as she makes her first swing through the Granite State.
The California senator told a roaring crowd in Portsmouth on Monday that she plans to spend time in New Hampshire to compete and campaign. She again reassured the audience Tuesday that she plans to spend a lot of time in New Hampshire.
The Democrat began her speech by sharing that she would work on creating a criminal justice reform if elected.
"Of the many priorities I have in this campaign, and if the voters will have me as the next president of the United States, one of them will be what we need to do to be smarter around what we’re doing in the criminal justice system," she said.
Harris didn't detail what her criminal justice reform would be before she moved on to discuss the U.S. economy.
"The economy in America today is not working for working people," she said. "And I’ll tell you why I say that. I say that when I look at the data and facts that tell us that almost half of American families today cannot afford a $400 emergency unexpected expense."
To remedy what Harris believes could be an improved economy, she said proposes giving families who make less than $100,000 annually a $6,000 tax credit that could be received at $500 a month. She also proposes giving renters who pay more than 30 percent of their income in rent a tax credit, as well.
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The California senator said mental health and substance abuse treatment is needed on demand.
"We criminalized what is a public health matter," Harris said. "We spent, as it turns out, billions of dollars incarcerating what is otherwise a disease. And we are paying the price for that. We put that money into mass incarceration instead of public education. And to what end?"
Harris said teachers should receive a higher pay, citing educators she has met who work two to even three jobs to make ends meet.
"We must give them the value of what they are giving us in return," Harris said about teachers.
Without any hesitation, Harris said President Donald Trump's tax bill should be repealed.
"It's going to put another $1 trillion on the American taxpayer," she said.
Harris said she would upgrade the election system so all polls would use paper ballots.
"Russia can't hack a piece of paper," she said. "It will cost something, but the benefit will be our democracy."
Harris is currently serving her first term as senator for California. She previously served as the state’s attorney general.
