Vice President Harris Visits Milwaukee

By Karen Stokes

Vice President Kamala Harris visited Milwaukee today as part of her nationwide Economic Opportunity Tour. This is her fourth visit to Wisconsin this year and her eighth since taking office. Comedian D.L. Hughley joined her on stage.

Before a crowd of 300 at Discovery World Museum, Mayor Cavalier Johnson, County Executive David Crowley, JCP Construction President James Phelps, Senator Tammy Baldwin, and other local leaders were in attendance in support of the Vice President.

“Milwaukee County is becoming stronger because of the Biden Harris administration and what’s good for Milwaukee County is good for Wisconsin,” said Crowley.

Harris said the tour was designed to share information about the resources available.

“There are those who lack access to information and relationships. That allows them and translates all of those skills into something that would actually be real and by extension benefit the whole community. I decided to embark on this Economic Opportunity Tour, travel the country and share with folks what resources are available and resources that aren’t just about helping folks survive but get ahead. Generational wealth, contributing to the economy of the neighborhood,” Harris said.

“Communally we understand that we were raised to work hard, we had to work twice as hard to get half as much. But is it just about hard work or lack of access to information?”, Hughley said.

During each stop, the Vice President is highlighting how the Biden-Harris Administration has built economic opportunity, supported communities, and delivered historic investments for the American people. This includes making unprecedented investments in small businesses and achieving the fastest creation of Black-owned small businesses in more than 30 years, creating a record number of jobs, increasing access to capital for underserved communities, erasing medical debt, forgiving more student loan debt than any administration in history and boosting investments in education, making housing more affordable, lowering child care costs, and increasing the wealth of American families.

One topic on everyone’s mind is student loan debt.

“We have now forgiven over $150 billion of student loan debt for over four-million Americans,” said Harris.

During her conversation with Hughley, Harris emphasized the importance of discussing segregation, redlining, and racial bias in home appraisals, as these issues contribute to homeownership gaps.

“There’s so many examples of how racial bias has undervalued a Black homeowner’s home in such a way that if they rely on that biased appraisal, they will receive less value for their property,” Harris said.

The Vice President stated that the administration is taking steps such as requiring home appraisers to be trained on racial bias. She also highlighted efforts to remove the prohibition on accessing small-business loans for previously incarcerated individuals.

As part of her visit to Wisconsin, Harris announced $40 million in awards to more than 165 housing counseling agencies to help expand those services around the country. Of the $40 million, $300,000 is new funding coming right here to Wisconsin.

Harris said, because of the inflation reduction and infrastructure acts, the federal government is dropping “trillions of dollars on the streets of America right now.”

Those dollars have been put toward rebuilding roads, bridges and sidewalks; investing in a clean energy economy; and dealing with the climate crisis.

“It’s very important, and I ask all the leaders who are here to help us get this information out, which is why we have invited the leaders who are here,” Harris said.