The Iowa legislative session is governed by a series of deadlines that create a “funnel” to narrow the list of eligible bills. The funnel which occurs in several steps over March and April, was introduced several decades ago as a way to help limit the length of each year’s legislative session to about four months—January through April. Before these enforced deadlines, sessions would occasionally stretch into the summer months.

This is how the funnel works: statutory legislation that cannot get approved by a legislative standing committee by March 9 is no longer eligible for consideration. For four weeks following this first funnel, the House will be in session many hours each day to complete floor debate and pass House bills that made it through the first funnel. Then they are sent over to the Senate and passed out of a Senate committee before April 6, when the second funnel closes. The Senate is governed by a similar funnel, only in reverse to the House.

Fortunately, some of my bills survived the funnel! One of those will probably be debated this week. The bill (originally HF 539) is one that raises the tobacco excise tax on a pack of cigarettes by $1. Data shows us that raising the price of tobacco products will reduce the use of this very addictive legal drug. Researchers tell us that raising the cost of a pack of cigarettes by $1 will result in 4% of adult smokers quitting. Even more significant are the 17% of teen-agers who will not begin to smoke. Tobacco related illness and death is the most preventable disease in America.

The primary goal of increasing the price of tobacco products is to improve the health of Iowans by decreasing the number of tobacco users and the incidence of tobacco related death and disease. An increase in the tobacco excise tax will create some additional revenue to support health care programs and services; however, we anticipate a reduction in tobacco tax revenues because 4% of adults will quit smoking. The 17% of teens who do not start smoking will never contribute to the state tax collector, but that money is definitely not a loss; the entire state will gain in reduced health care costs for those individuals.

I have been working hard with the Governor’s office and legislative leaders to make sure that all revenues from the tobacco tax will be used for health care and tobacco use prevention and cessation and not to grow government. In addition to addressing the medical costs of this addiction, I believe we have a moral obligation to help smokers to quit and to encourage youngsters never to start.

When I was a teenager, cigarettes were referred to as “coffin nails” and “cancer sticks”. I don’t know how much research about the effects of tobacco was being conducted, but even back in the ‘50s, we knew the danger of tobacco. Unfortunately, that didn’t stop me or many others from becoming addicted. Today, we know that 4,600 Iowans die each year from tobacco related illnesses. Every day, 12 Iowa families are planning a funeral for a loved one because of a tobacco related illness. In my own family, we experienced the grief of losing my older brother in this way.

Another way of looking at the scope of the problem is to consider that this is the equivalent of one jumbo jet crashing and killing 383 Iowans every single month. I remember how alarming it was for the citizens of our state when a passenger airplane crashed in Sioux City in 1989, killing 112 people. If a jumbo jet crashed every month in Iowa, killing all its passengers, we would certainly do everything we could to stop it from happening. We know that increasing the cost of tobacco products and restricting smoking in public places reduces the use of cigarettes. That in turn reduces the health care costs that all of us pay, both in our private health insurance premiums and in the tax supported Medicaid program. Reducing the use of tobacco saves all of us money and, more importantly, it saves lives.

Thanks to all the folks who have contacted me so far this year. I encourage anyone with ideas for legislation or comments on specific legislation to contact me at the Capitol. You can write me at the State Capitol, Des Moines, IA 50319; call 515/281-7328 or e-mail me at ro.foege@legis.state.ia.us.

Ro

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