Vice President Harris’ Opportunity Agenda for Latino Men will lower costs, increase homeownership, expand job opportunities, and will ensure that Latino men and their families can reach their aspirations and achieve their American Dream. As a part of her commitment to Latino men and their potential, on Tuesday she announced new proposals to invest in Latino small businesses, workers, and veterans.
Highlights of this new agenda include:
- Creating opportunities for Latino men in the workforce through training programs, including doubling registered apprenticeships and eliminating unnecessary college degree requirements—in total benefiting 2 million workers. As President, Vice President Harris will invest in Latino men by creating more opportunities for career advancement, bigger paychecks, and the success of their small businesses. This includes proposals to:
- Scale proven training models that lead to good-paying jobs for Latino men and others, including by doubling apprenticeships and partnering with businesses, unions, community colleges, trusted organizations such as UnidosUS, faith-based groups, and Hispanic-Serving Institutions to deliver more quality training opportunities that lead to good jobs.
- Eliminate unnecessary degree requirements for Latino men without college degrees for 500,000 federal jobs—while working with the private sector to do the same.
- Expand innovative partnerships with 1,000 high schools to allow hundreds of thousands of students to start working toward a good career while they are in high school—whether through a guaranteed job at a partner employer or a head start on a college or technical degree.
- Vice President Harris will expand workforce development and career pathways for the more than 1.5 million Latino veterans and 240,000 active-duty service members by investing in programs and organizations that train and hire veterans.
- Vice President Harris will allow registered apprentices and construction professionals, 30% of whom are Latino, to write off the expense of the tools and equipment—helping reduce barriers for young Latino workers to get a start in the building trades.
- Increasing start-up funding for Latino men starting or expanding their own businesses with one million forgivable loans of up to $20,000 for Latino and other entrepreneurs and interest-free loans with deferred payments to help expand their businesses.Under Vice President Harris’ leadership, Latino small business ownership is up 40% and growing at the fastest rate in 30 years. But studies have shown that Latinos are more likely to be denied large loans by banks, even with less debt and similar credit scores to their white counterparts. Vice President Harris wants to ensure that Latino men and others with good ideas—whether in building or finance—are not denied the ability to start or expand a small business due to lack of access to capital.
- Vice President Harris will ensure Latino men have a fair shot by providing one million forgivable loans of up to $20,000 for Latino entrepreneurs and others who want to start a business or are seeking an additional source of income. These loans will be provided through a new partnership between the Small Business Administration (SBA) and trusted partners on the ground like mission-driven lenders and banks with a proven commitment to their communities.
- Vice President Harris will help Latino entrepreneurs and other entrepreneurs expand their businesses by working with community banks, community development financial institutions (CDFIs), and other trusted partners to provide them with no- or low-interest loans or deferred loan repayments.
- Set an ambitious goal for more than doubling the annual number of first-time Latino homebuyers to nearly 600,000 to expand wealth and security for Latino men and their families. Although homeownership is a key engine of wealth building in America, less than 50% of Latino households own their homes, nearly 25 percentage points lower than white households.
- To help make her ambitious proposal a reality, Vice President Harris has a plan to build 3 million new affordable homes, lowering the cost of renting and homeownership.
- She will also provide $25,000 in downpayment assistance for first-time homebuyers, including those who lack inherited wealth—making the dream of homeownership and building multi-generational wealth a reality for hundreds of thousands more Latino families across the country every year.
“As President, Kamala Harris will genuinely invest in our future and ensure everyone has a fair shot at achieving their American Dream,” said National Advisory Board Member Senator Alex Padilla. “The choice in this election couldn’t be more clear: Kamala Harris will include the Latino community in the success and well-being of our country, while Donald Trump is shamelessly running to cut taxes for corporations, raise health care and grocery costs, and demonize our community.”
A second Trump term would be a disaster for Latinos and their families – raising costs on middle class families by nearly $4,000 a year, separating Latino families, and gutting affordable health care for more than 4 million Latinos.
Vice President Harris, Governor Walz, and Doug Emhoff to Participate in Hispanic Media Interviews This Week
In the final stretch of the campaign when undecided Latino voters are tuning in to hear from the Vice President, she, alongside Governor Walz, Doug Emhoff, and top Latino business leaders and elected officials will participate in a media blitz designed to get in front of Latino audiences:
- This past Tuesday, Vice President Harris participated in an interview with Telemundo’s Julio Vaqueiro that aired across all of NBCUniversal’s platforms nationally, reaching 95% of Latino households in 210 markets.
- This week, Governor Walz will join Univision’s El Bueno, La Mala, y El Feo, a syndicated radio show that reaches millions of Latinos across the country.
- Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff taped an interview with Univision’s nationally syndicated afternoon radio program, El Free-Guey Show, reaching millions of Latino Americans across the country. Emhoff also participated in an interview with Alex “El Genio” Lucas on Nueva Network Radio, a daily morning show syndicated across 72 stations and 43 markets.
The media blitz builds on the campaign’s long-standing commitment and efforts to meet Latino men where they are, discuss the issues that matter most to them, and mobilize them to encourage other Latino men to vote for Kamala Harris. Building on historic investments and outreach to Latino voters on the ground and on the airwaves, the Harris Walz campaign plans to be everywhere in the final days of the campaign—from a lowrider early vote event in Wisconsin to a horse parade early vote caravan in Las Vegas and food trucks in Arizona, Pennsylvania and Nevada. Congressional Hispanic Caucus members, Cabinet secretaries, and other trusted messengers like Latino influencers are being deployed across battleground states to organize at festivals and block parties and other culturally relevant events.
