The legislature has voted to charge a new tax on vaping products, nicotine patches and nicotine gum and will dedicate $3 million of that new state tax revenue to pediatric cancer research.
Representative Tracy Ehlert, a Democrat from Cedar Rapids who voted for the bill, said she’s worked with the families of children diagnosed with cancer who’ve been lobbying for state funding of research into better treatments, but she said the five cent tax so low, it won’t discourage people from buying the nicotine laced products.
“The bill that’s in front of us will fund this research by promoting products that contribute to lung cancer,” Ehlert said. “This is the cancer that my mom died of during the 2022 legislative session. The anniversary of her death is acually next Saturday, so it makes it a little bit more of an emotional decision for me.”
Representative Brent Siegrist, a Republican from Council Bluffs, said he doesn’t disagree with the argument that the tax is too low, but he says the Senate has insisted the only way to fund pediatrict cancer research is with a new tax. “I view my job around here as getting things done. This bill will go to the governor today,” Siegrist said. “…We call talk all about, ‘Oh, the Senate’s pushing us around.’ I don’t care about any of that. I care about results.”
The bill passed the House on a 67-18 vote and goes to the governor for her signature. Earlier this year, Governor Reynolds proposed a 65 cent hike in the state tax on a pack of cigarettes, as well as new taxes on vapes.