Increase Iowa’s cigarette tax

Legislation that would increase Iowa’s cigarette tax and implement an excise tax on vape and consumable hemp products was dealt a setback last week.

A bill sponsored by Sen. Kara Warme, R-Ames, chair of the Health and Human Services Committee would raise the tax on a pack of cigarettes by 65 cents from the current $1.36 to $2.01. Vape products and consumable hemp would carry a 15% excise tax.

But Warme’s bill failed by a single vote in her committee. But because it’s a bill dealing with taxes, it was not subject to Friday’s funnel deadline.

So, the bill can be resurrected, and we urge lawmakers to approve it.

Iowa has not raised its tobacco tax since 2007. And given the state’s alarming and growing cancer rate, any effort to convince Iowans to give up smoking is worth a try. Gov. Kim Reynolds also has called for raising the cigarette tax.

“I don’t like raising taxes on anyone. I also don’t like that Iowa has more of our people dying of lung cancer than very many of our other states across the nation,” Warme told the committee, according to Radio Iowa.

The American Cancer Society is lobbying for a $1.50 per pack cigarette tax increase, and there is a House bill that would do just that. The society contends the bill would push 10,000 Iowa smokers to quit and dissuade 2,500 youth from starting.

Iowa’s cigarette tax is ranked 36th nationally, according to KFF.

In Iowa, revenue from tobacco and vape taxes flow into the Health Care Trust Fund. The trust fund covers a large chunk of funding for Medicaid.

Reynolds Fiscal Year 2027 budget includes $214 million from the Health Care Trust Fund, an increase of $78.6 million compared to 2026. The increase, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Service Agency, is “due to recommended excise tax adjustments.”

The Senate bill would spend $1 million on the governor’s Double Up Food Bucks program and $1 million for victim assistance grants for services related to human trafficking.

As laudable as those programs are, we think all the money from a higher tobacco tax should be spent on health care, especially cancer screenings and other measures helping Iowans catch cancer early. With federal Medicaid cuts on the way, the state needs more resources to soften the blow.

Iowa’s status among the states with the highest cancer rates is the best argument for raising the tobacco tax. There’s no good reason to delay. It could save lives.

(319) 398-8262; editorial@thegazette.com