(Radio Iowa) - The governor's call to raise state taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco products and impose a new tax on vaping products and consumable hemp products has narrowly failed in a Senate Committee.
Governor Reynolds says Iowa continues to have one of the highest lung cancer rates in the country and a higher tax on these products could prompt some Iowans to quit smoking cigarettes or vaping. The bill considered in the Senate Health and Human Resources Committee would have diverted the new sales taxes on vapes and consumable hemp products into a state fund that would be used next year to assist victims of human trafficking and plug a million dollars into Iowa's Double Up Food Bucks program that helps low income Iowans buy more fresh fruits and vegetables.
The bill wound up getting nine votes -- one short of the 10 necessary to win committee approval.