Governor Kim Reynolds has approved a new state tax on vaping products, including nicotine pouches, and each year $3 million of that new tax revenue will go toward pediatric cancer research at the University of Iowa.
Reynolds held a bill signing ceremony at the Stead Children’s Hospital on the campus in Iowa City. She was joined by a group of parents who began lobbying for state funding of pediatric cancer research after they spent month after month at the hospital with their children were undergoing cancer treatments mainly designed for adults.
“By standing up for all the children of our state, you’ve honored your loved ones in the greatest way possible and your advocacy is turning awareness into action,” Reynolds saod. “…As governor and, even more so, as the wife of someone living with cancer, I could not be more grateful.” Kevin Reynolds was diagnosed with lung cancer nearly three years ago and he’s been taking a new type of medication that has put his cancer in remission.
Scott Kass and his family spent six months at the Children’s Hospital in Iowa City in 2023 after his daughter Devyn (DEV-un) was diagnosed with lukemia. He thanked lawmakers for listening to parents like him. “We wanted to make a difference for other families that would have to go through this same journey that we went through,” Kass said.
Isabelle Ireland of Sigourney, a recent University of Iowa graduate, also lobbied for state funding of pediatric cancer research. At the age of 16, she was diagnosed with an extremely rare form of ovarian cancer and her treatment was managed by University of Iowa doctors. “The children of Iowa are really lucky that there’s a lot of people who care deeply about them,” she said, “and that the State of Iowa is taking today to commit to that responsibility to take care of them.”
Dr. David Gordon, a pediatric oncologist at University of Iowa Health Care, says cancer is the leading cause of death in children. “Too many children don’t respond to our therapies, too many children relapse, too many children suffer long side effects from therapy,” Gordon said. “We need to do better and the important thing is we can do better and that is why today matters so much.”
Representative Ryan Weldon of Ankeny, who led House debate of the proposal, said Iowa is going on offense. “Today, we’re playing to win,” Weldon said, “for the researchers who need a committed partner, for the families who needed someone to answer the call and for the children in the state who deserve every fighting chance we can give them.”
The tax on vapes doesn’t go into effect until July 1, so it may be a while before three MILLION dollars is accumulated. Legislators set aside three million dollars in a separate bill to ensure the University of Iowa’s research into childhood cancers can begin this summer.
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