Iowa lawmakers push back on proposed tobacco tax

At $1.36, Iowa's cigarette tax is the 14th-lowest in the nation, according to the health research organization KFF. (Adobe Stock)

By Public News Service

March 11, 2026

By Mark Moran

A key health committee in the Iowa Legislature has defeated a measure that would have increased the state’s tobacco and e-cigarette taxes.Iowa hasn’t changed the rate in 19 years, and proponents of the increase say it’s aimed at curbing the cancer rate in Iowa, which reports the second-highest number of new cases in the nation.Senate Study Bill 3415 would raise the tax on a pack of cigarettes by 65 cents, from the current average of $1.36 cents to just over $2. It would also impose a 15% excise tax on e-cigarette and consumable hemp products. But the measure failed in the Health and Human Services Committee by a single vote.

Kristina Hamilton, Iowa advocacy director for the American Lung Association, said the bill is important, as smoking remains the number one risk factor for lung cancer.

“Eighty to 90% of lung cancer cases are due to cigarette smoking,” she said, “and lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths, in Iowa and nationwide.”

Backers of the bill are still hopeful. Since the measure deals with taxes, it was not subject to the first legislative deadline and can still be reconsidered, despite the committee vote.

Iowa hasn’t raised its tobacco tax since 2007, and Hamilton said recent data show that doing so could do more than target the state’s cancer rate. It could also discourage young people from smoking or vaping in the first place.

“When you make tobacco products less affordable,” she said, “you can help prevent around 2,500 Iowa kids from becoming adults who smoke, and reduce smoking among teens by more than 10%.”

Revenue from taxes on tobacco and e-cigarettes helps fund the state’s Health Care Trust Fund, which is responsible for a large share of Iowa’s portion of Medicaid funding.