Harris/Walz Campaign Promises to Promote Employee Ownership

In a recent policy statement, the Harris/Walz campaign became the first presidential campaign to explicitly endorse employee ownership: "In addition, Vice President Harris and Governor Walz will reform our tax laws to make it easier for businesses to let workers share in their company’s success, including through broad-based employee stock ownership, profit-sharing plans, and comparable arrangements, with appropriate guardrails to ensure these plans benefit and protect workers."

The 2016 Republican Party platform endorsed ESOPs, and the 2016 Clinton campaign promoted sharing company profits with employees but did not explicitly refer to employee ownership.