Capitol Notebook: New display unveiled for Iowa Constitution

DES MOINES — The Iowa Constitution now rests in a new display case that was designed to keep the 168-year-old document safer.

Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate, in whose office the constitution is permanently displayed, unveiled the new case during a news conference Thursday at the Iowa Capitol.

The previous version of the display case was built in the 1980s, according to the Secretary of State’s Office. The new one was manufactured and constructed by Iowa-based companies and features UV-protection acrylic, moisture-absorbing canisters and temperature and humidity meters to ensure the case stays within safe levels.

The new case was manufactured by Notch & Nail of Johnston, and the acrylic was sourced from Midland Plastics of Des Moines, with support provided by the Iowa State Historical Museum, the Secretary of State’s Office said.

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Pate unveiled the new display along with Valerie Van Kooten, administrator of the State Historical Society of Iowa.

“We take great pride in being able to display this historic document in our office for Iowans,” Pate said in a statement. “When Iowans can see their state’s original constitution with their own eyes, it creates a powerful connection between Iowa citizens and the document that established their fundamental rights and freedoms. It can transform the abstract idea of history into something deeply meaningful.”

The new display case also contains drawers in which other historical documents can be stored on a rotating basis.

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During Thursday’s news conference, Pate showed that one of the drawers contains land record books noting the transfer of Iowa land to President Abraham Lincoln.

While Thursday’s event was in the Iowa Capitol rotunda, the Iowa Constitution will again be permanently displayed in the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office, also on the first floor of the Iowa Capitol. The constitution can be viewed during normal business hours: 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Senate moves nicotine vapor product tax forward

Iowa Senate lawmakers unanimously advanced a bill Thursday that would tax nicotine vapor products and nicotine pouches.

Senate Study Bill 1137 would impose a $1.15 tax per cartridge on vapor cartridges and a 6.8 cent tax per nicotine pouch. Vapor products including e-liquids would be taxed 15 percent upon the retail sales price and e-liquids sold separately from a vapor cartridge would be taxed 35 percent.

The revenue from the increased taxes would go toward a cancer research fund. Iowa has the second-highest cancer incidence rate in the nation and is the only state with a rising rate of cancer, according to the Iowa Cancer Registry.

Tobacco products currently are taxed at 50 percent of the wholesale sales price in Iowa. Cigarettes have a $1.36 tax on packages of 20 or $1.70 on packages of 25.

The bill was introduced by Sen. Mike Klimesh, R-Spillville, a former smoker. He said he is concerned vape products are gateways to cigarettes for middle and high schoolers.

“I’m a former smoker. I still smoke once in a while myself, if I’m being honest with the room. I don’t vape, I smoke cigarettes,” Klimesh said. “That’s where the start is easier for high school students to have access to this.”

Representatives from multiple tobacco companies including Phillip Morris International and Reynolds American spoke against the bill, arguing nicotine vapor products are a less harmful alternative to tobacco products.

Mike Triplett representing Iowans for Alternatives to Smoking and Tobacco, said smoking tobacco causes cancer and nicotine vapor products don’t.

“We don’t believe that there's justification for treating a device that is less harmful than smoking in a similar fashion to deadly cigarettes,” Triplett said.

Threase Harms, representing Clean Air For Everyone, said that nicotine vape products still contain toxic chemicals that can cause conditions like “popcorn lung,” noting that Iowa’s youth vaping rates are higher than the national average

“There is toxic exposure through vaping products. They contain chemicals like formaldehyde,” Harms said. “People generally use vaping and cigarette smoking interchangeably because we don't have laws on vaping products because they are a newer faction to our availability. You can use them in public places.”

Sen. Claire Celsi, D-West Des Moines, who also is a former smoker, said she was disappointed to see the tobacco companies lobbying against the legislation.

“Cancer sticks are dangerous, and they suck young people in before they know the true harm that they’re obtaining from these insidious little drugs, and I think we should tax the crap out of it,” Celsi said.

Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau