Statewide Iowa (RI) — Governor Kim Reynolds is proposing new taxes and tax hikes on smoking products that she says are a key factor in Iowa’s high rate of lung cancer.
Reynolds invited University of Iowa researchers to Des Moines to release preliminary data from their study of what may be contributing to Iowa’s troubling rate of new cancer cases.
Reynolds proposes raising the state tax on a pack of cigarettes to the national average, which is just over two dollars a pack. Reynolds is recommending that the state start charging a 15 percent tax on vaping products and consumable hemp products.
She’s also called for eliminating certain dyes and additives from food served in Iowa schools as well as requiring physicians to complete a nutrition course as part of the continuing education requirements for Iowa medical licenses.
The University of Iowa’s cancer research is focusing on the most common types of cancer and has found Iowa has more cases of late-stage lung cancer than other states.
The governor’s husband was diagnosed with what she describes as a fast-growing form of lung cancer in September of 2023.
Kevin Reynolds underwent immunotherapy that shrunk the tumor in six weeks and his cancer is in remission.
KIWA Staff Photo
