Presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks to supporters outside the Throwback Brewery in North Hampton on Sept. 4. Courtesy photo

NORTH HAMPTON – With two months remaining before the presidential election, Democratic candidate Kamala Harris laid out an ambitious plan that would allow 25 million Americans to file small business applications within the next four years.

“America’s small businesses are essential to the foundation of our economy,” Harris said during her Sept. 4 campaign event outside the Throwback Brewery in North Hampton.

In contrast, 15 million small business applications were filed under former President Donald Trump’s administration.

Harris said small business owners spend an average of $40,000 in start-up costs during their first year.

“They’re not just building a business, they’re building a dream,” she said.

Should she win the presidency, Harris said she would expand the current tax deduction from $5,000 to $50,000 for startup expenses.

In fiscal year 2023, nearly $179 million in federal contract funds were allocated to small businesses. However, establishments in rural parts of the country received less than two percent of that money.

Therefore, Harris vowed to ensure that one-third of federal contract dollars would be used to support Main Street. She also said a Small Business Expansion Fund would be created to offer low- or no-interest loans to entrepreneurs who wish to expand.

Regarding tax reform, Harris said America’s billionaires pay less in taxes than teachers, nurses, firefighters and police.

“Billionaires must pay their fair share of taxes,” she said.

To level the playing field with the middle class, she said a billionaire minimum income tax would be necessary, thus raising the long-term capital gains tax from 20 percent to 28 percent.

Turning her attention to her opponent and Project 2025, Harris said that if Trump is victorious, his actions would include cutting the Small Business Administration budget and repealing the Affordable Care Act. She also said he would impose a national sales tax which would increase the cost of living by $4,000.

Harris said Trump’s economic agenda would put more than three million Americans out of work and trigger a recession by the middle of next year.

“His plan would add $5 trillion to the national debt,” she said.

Speaking about reproductive freedom, Harris said Trump appointed three justices to the U.S. Supreme Court for the sole purpose of reversing Roe vs. Wade. Under Project 2025, Trump would sign a national abortion ban and force states to report how many women have miscarriages.

“We are witnessing a full-on attack of our fundamental freedoms,” said Harris.

She also took issue with the Supreme Court’s decision that now protects the president from legal action.

“Just imagine Donald Trump with no guardrails,” she said.

As of Sept. 5, the national poll from Emerson College showed Harris with 49 percent of the vote and Trump with 47 percent.