Elizabeth Warren Has A Plan For That: 10 Policies You Need To Know

Sen. Elizabeth Warren and her nerd brigade have a clear strategy for the 2020 presidential election: Run a policy-heavy campaign that speaks to the issues voters face in pretty much every aspect of their lives.

"She has a plan for that" has become a somewhat jokey recurring slogan among Warren supporters and the media, but it's also extremely accurate. The Massachusetts Democrat has been releasing proposals at a rate no other presidential hopeful has been able to meet. Her plans include, but are not limited to: a wealth tax for the ultra-rich, a universal child care proposal, a way to break up Big Tech, several plans for the economy, and so much more. She has also come out in support of Medicare for All and reparations for slavery, although she has yet to unveil policy proposals on these subjects.

Warren's personal history has heavily informed her policies, making it easier for her to connect with voters. Ahead, a look at where she stands on all the issues you care about. (Or at least most of them. She has too many damn plans!)

Warren introduced a "wealth tax" soon after launching her presidential bid. This annual 2% tax, also known as the "ultra-millionaire tax," would apply to Americans whose net worth exceeds $50 million. (Billionaires would see an additional 1% levy.) According to her campaign, experts project it could bring around $2.75 trillion in new government revenue over the next decade. The wealth tax would also be used to pay for several of her other proposals.

Warren coined the term "economic patriotism" as the core part of her jobs and trade agenda, which centers on a plan to help revive the U.S. manufacturing industry. Some of the policies in the proposal include increasing funding for apprenticeship programs and creating sectoral training programs; requiring the federal government to favor American manufacturers more than it currently does; consolidating government agencies tasked with job creation under the new Department of Economic Development, which would help "create and defend good American jobs"; and spending on federal research and development (R&D) while ensuring those products are manufactured domestically.

Warren proposed the Universal Child Care and Early Learning Act in February. The plan calls for the federal government to partner with local establishments to create a network of child-care providers — including locally licensed centers, preschools, and in-home care options. Families with a household income 200% below the poverty level would be guaranteed access to free, high-quality child care. Families with a household income above that would pay for child-care services on a sliding scale, and the fee would be capped at no more than 7% of their income.

Read more about the plan here and calculate how much money it would help you save here.

Warren's affordable college plan includes canceling $50,000 in student loan debt for people whose household income is under $100,000. Those with a household income between $100,000 and $250,000 would still receive some relief, getting $1 canceled for every $3. According to Warren, broad debt cancellation does not address the current flaws in the higher education system, which is why she also proposed universal public college. The plan offers no-cost undergraduate tuition and fees at all public two-year and four-year colleges in the country. Warren is also calling for expanding and redirecting federal grants to pay for non-tuition costs, such as room and board, at public colleges.

Warren's immigration reform plan is her most ambitious yet. Some of its major proposals include decriminalizing unauthorized immigration, allowing for it to be only a civil violation; reshaping the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agencies; creating health and safety standards for detention centers; guaranteeing immigration hearings and ending the practice of expedited removal proceedings; raising the refugee cap; and expanding protections for asylum seekers. Warren would also take extensive steps to reform the legal immigration system, including reducing the family reunification backlog and reinstating the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, including extending protection for Dreamers and their families.

Warren is proposing three executive actions she would take on her first day as president to expand economic opportunities for women of color. Among other actions, the plan includes new regulations for federal contractors to ensure equity in their workplaces; new paths to hiring and retaining women of color in the federal government, with a special focus on diversifying leadership positions; strengthening anti-discrimination measures; and making it easier for women from underrepresented communities to report issues.

In early March, Warren proposed a series of regulations aimed at undoing the mergers that have lead America’s largest tech companies, including Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Apple, to hold a monopoly. The regulations would break up the companies and offer protections for users through policies such as banning tech giants from transferring or sharing users’ data with third parties.

Warren has addressed the issue of climate change in at least five different plans, proposing to counter growing greenhouse gas emissions and rising average temperatures through several policies in the areas of:

Public lands, by signing an executive order calling for a "total moratorium on all new fossil fuel leases, including for drilling offshore and on public lands."

The military, by requiring the Pentagon to "achieve net zero carbon emissions for all its non-combat bases and infrastructure by 2030" and pushing for "new clean energy solutions that will improve our security by allowing military bases to remain operational when traditional power sources fail, and save taxpayers money through lower overall energy consumption."

Trade, by securing "a multilateral agreement to protect domestic green policies like subsidies for green products and preferential treatment for environmentally sustainable energy production from WTO challenges" and impose "a border carbon adjustment so imported goods that these firms make using carbon-intensive processes are charged a fee to equalize the costs borne by companies playing by the rules."

Climate risk disclosure, by requiring the Securities and Exchange Commission to "issue rules that make every public company disclose detailed information, including the likely effect on the company if climate change continues at its current pace and the likely effect on the company if the world successfully restricts greenhouse gas emissions to meet the targets of the Paris Agreement."

Green manufacturing, by calling for "investing $2 trillion over the next 10 years in green research, manufacturing, and exporting — linking American innovation directly to American jobs, and helping achieve the ambitious targets of the Green New Deal."

Warren has proposed to end the private and for-profit prison system, which benefits from mass incarceration, including the detention of immigrants. She has said that as president, she would end contracts between private detention providers and the Bureau of Prisons, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, and the U.S. Marshals Service; ban contractors from charging incarcerated people for phone calls, bank transfers, and healthcare; and implement an independent Prison Conditions Monitor to regularly audit and investigate contractors, in an effort to ensure they're not violating the rights of inmates and detainees.

Warren's reproductive rights platform calls for Congress to pass a group of federal laws protecting access to reproductive care even in the event Roe v. Wade is overturned. These include codifying access to abortion in the federal statute, repealing the Hyde Amendment, reversing the Trump administration's gag rule, and passing a bill blocking states from enacting onerous anti-abortion restrictions such as the targeted regulations on abortion providers (TRAP) laws.