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(Des Moines, IA) -- A bill designed to promote healthy lifestyles in Iowa takes aim at smokers.
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds is sponsoring the bill.
A statement from her office says the legislation would raise the tobacco tax by 10% for wholesale cost and by 15% of retail costs on vape and consumable hemp products.
The cigarette tax would be increased from $1.36 a pack to $2.01, which is the national average. The tobacco tax has not been raised in Iowa since 2007.
Iowa is second in the nation for the number of new cancer cases.
The legislation also addresses obesity among SNAP recipients, eliminates dyes from school foods and expands access to over-the-counter contraceptives.