Vice President Kamala Harris may have lost the presidential election, but all of her plans need not be relegated to the ash heap of history. With two months left in office, she and President Biden should enact as many of them as possible.
The one I care most about is the Opportunity Agenda for Black Men. While certain aspects require congressional authorization, others need merely a simple stroke of the presidential pen. Between now and Inauguration Day, Biden should use his executive authority to make the promises of Harris’s Opportunity Agenda real for the Black men of this country.
The Harris plan conceives of opportunity in its broadest sense. It touches on wealth creation, healthcare access, housing affordability and more. Under the plan, Black men would stand to gain forgivable loans to start a business, lower taxes and a new voting rights bill. Under basic separation of powers doctrine, no president could unilaterally deliver on those three promises. Biden, however, could scramble to actualize other provisions found in the Opportunity Agenda.
For example, he could formally launch a public-private Health Equity Initiative for Black Men. He could direct the Office of Personnel Management to drop college degree requirements........