Senate Majority Leader Mike Klimesh says he’ll “have a conversation” with his fellow Republicans about whether vaping products — the liquid pods or cartridges used in e-cigarettes — should be taxed in Iowa, just like cigarettes.
“I think if we’re using a method of delivering nicotine, it warrants a conversation of whether or not there should be a level of tax on that,” Klimesh said. “However, I don’t want us to find ourselves in a situation where we’re outpacing the taxes of surrounding states.”
That would hurt retailers in Iowa’s border areas, Klimesh said, as Iowans who vape might start going to a neighboring state to buy their supplies. Nebraska, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois all tax vaping products. South Dakota and Missouri don’t.
Klimesh is a former smoker who said after a subcommittee hearing during the 2025 legislative session that he’s tried to wean himself off nicotine for the past 20 years. He introduced a bill this past year that would have taxed vaping liquid as well as nicotine pouches which are wedged inside a person’s bottom lip like smokeless tobacco. This fall, Senate Republicans chose Klimesh to be their new leader and he told Radio Iowa that means he has a different role in the lawmaking process. “If I’ve got members that want to continue that conversation, then I would not discourage it,” Klimesh said of taxing vapes.
House Speaker Pat Grassley told Radio Iowa House Republicans haven’t discussed the issue. “That’s something we’d be open to,” Grassley said, “but I don’t think it’s something that we’re driving on this side.”
According to the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, the cigarette smoking rate among Iowa adults has dropped to 5.6%, but the use of e-cigarettes continues to rise — with 23.5% of 18 and 24 year olds vaping regularly.