It was a week for celebration in the Iowa Legislature! For several years, I have sponsored legislation to raise the tobacco tax by $1 per pack for cigarettes. Late last Tuesday night (March 13) a bill passed the Iowa House accomplishing that with bi-partisan support. On Thursday morning, I stood beside Governor Culver as he signed the bill into law, effective immediately.

Studies prove that raising cigarette and tobacco taxes in Iowa will save 20,000 lives. The legislation, which was first passed by the Iowa Senate, means that the tax on a pack of cigarettes will now be $1.36. Increases were also approved for other tobacco products.

Not only will approximately 20,000 adults finally kick this destructive habit, but equally important, almost 42,000 kids will not take up smoking because of the increased cost. In addition, it will prevent 6,300 smoking-affected births.

The $127 million dollars generated from the tax will go into a special Health Care Tax Fund to be used only for health care. This will include an increase in the availability of tobacco cessation and prevention, and substance abuse treatment and enforcement. As chair of the Health & Human Services Appropriations sub-committee, I will have a great deal of responsibility to make certain the new tax generated will go entirely into health care.
The revenue from this tax increase will help reduce the $200 million subsidy that non-smokers pay to the state’s Medicaid program for smoking-related illnesses. In five years, the state will save $9 million in health care costs treating smoking-caused heart attacks and strokes. And in the long term, the state will save over $867 million in health care cost because of adult and youth smoking declines, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health. California, which has a strict ban on smoking in bars and restaurants, has experienced a 29% decrease in lung cancer. Reducing tobacco use saves money and saves lives.

Another public health initiative that I have pursued for a number of years is a bill that allows cities and counties to pass their own ordinances regulating smoking. These ordinances can be more stringent than current state law. If passed, this law would allow cities and counties to determine where smoking will be prohibited. I believe that those who govern at the local level know best where to prohibit smoking, and they also know whether banning smoking in a certain business would be an economic hardship. Current law prohibits smoking in public places or in public meetings except in designated smoking areas, but does not allow local government entities to enforce more stringent smoking bans.

There are an increasing number of businesses such as bars, restaurants and hotels that have made their own decision not to allow smoking. Most of those businesses actually enjoy an increase in their business and have less difficulty finding employees. A manager of a non-smoking sports bar told me that even staff that smoked did not want to spend an eight-hour shift in a smoke-filled environment.

In other health-related issues, the Iowa Legislature is working this session to provide more preventative health care and to allow for more research for treating and potentially curing diseases. One bill would require children to receive a vaccination against the invasive pneumococcal disease before they are enrolled in a licensed care center. Another bill is aimed at having all children tested for lead paint disease by the age of six.

And HF287, which has been signed into law by Governor Culver, establishes the Iowa Research and Cures Initiative. The bill allows for Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer for the creation of stem cells for therapeutic research. This new law provides great hope to help treat and possibly cure many diseased like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, diabetes, cancer, spinal cord injuries and others.

Thanks to all the folks who have contacted me so far this year. I appreciate hearing your ideas for legislation or comments on specific legislation. 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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