IOWA CITY — Scott and Brooke Kaas knew they wanted to do something in the fight against childhood cancer after pediatric oncologists at the University of Iowa Stead Family Children Hospital treated their daughter Devyn.
She was diagnosed with childhood leukemia at 7 months old, which has since been pushed into remission.
After conversing with several pediatric oncologists at the children’s hospital, the Kaas family decided to lobby lawmakers to invest in pediatric oncology research.
“We wanted to do something different,” Scott Kaas told a packed room of childhood cancer survivors, parents, hospital staff, doctors and legislators on the 12th floor of the children’s hospital with a view overlooking Kinnick Stadium. “We wanted to make a difference for other families who have to go through the same journey that we went through.”
Gov. Kim Reynolds helped fulfill their wishes on Tuesday, May 26, by signing a law creating a 5-cent tax on vapes and alternative nicotine products and funneling the first $3 million raised from the tax annually toward pediatric cancer research at the UI.
The new tax under Senate File 2480 will provide an ongoing way to fund the research, starting with the 2028 budget year on July 1, 2027. Funding to kickstart research in fiscal year 2027 was tucked into the state’s budget.
During the bill signing, Reynolds said despite the rarity of childhood cancer, “every case is life-altering.”
“Behind the numbers are families bearing heavy burdens, parents desperate for answers and access to the best possible care, and kids who should be enjoying their childhood, but instead are fighting one of the hardest battles there is,” Reynolds said.
According to the 2026 Cancer in Iowa report prepared by the Iowa Cancer Registry at the UI College of Public Health, 16.3 per 100,000 Iowa children up to age 14 received a childhood cancer diagnosis between 2018 and 2022.
That’s roughly on par with the national average of 17.1 cancer diagnoses per 100,000 children in the U.S. from 2017-2021, according to the National Institute of Health.
Lawmakers split on whether a vape tax is a fair way to fund cancer research
The Iowa House and Senate pitched dueling approaches to fund the research, with the House first proposing to use state general fund dollars. But the Senate unanimously passed its own proposal to tie research funding to the new tax and sent the measure to the House.
Several lawmakers said it was not ethical to tie the mechanism for cancer research funding to a tax on products associated with cancer, as critics derided the tax increase as a “drop in the bucket” toward addressing the state’s cancer crisis.
Democrats also said the tax rate the bill set wouldn’t affect tobacco companies’ bottom lines, arguing that the bill’s 5-cent tax on vapes should be higher and would not discourage teens from becoming addicted to nicotine.
Despite these objections, the House passed it in a 67-18 vote on May 2, with 13 Democrats and five Republicans in opposition.
Sen. Kara Warme, R-Ames, who chairs the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, had said she expects the tax to generate $15 million to $18 million in its first year. Any leftover funds would be funneled toward Iowa’s Medicaid program.
But the state’s own nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency estimated less revenue, ranging from $2.6 million in fiscal year 2028 to $3 million in fiscal year 2031.
“Some say this bill is only a tiny step, but for families with a little one battling cancer, they are pleading and praying for their loved one to take a tiny step,” Warme said.
Children with cancer deserve ‘continued investment’
This was the only measure Iowa lawmakers advanced that would raise taxes on any form of tobacco or nicotine products.
Reynolds in February pitched a 65-cent increase in Iowa’s cigarette tax, which would have taken the state from a tax of $1.36 to $2.01 per pack. And a coalition of public health groups proposed a larger $1.50 per pack increase.
Neither policy advanced.
Still, lawmakers who voted for the vape tax measure said it would move the needle in the right direction toward addressing cancer in Iowa.
UI Vice President of Medical Affairs Denise Jamieson, dean of the Carver College of Medicine, said the law will enable researchers and physicians get “better outcomes and brighter futures for Iowa’s children.”
“Today’s bill signing reflects what can happen when people come together around a shared belief that children with cancer deserve not only hope but continued investment in research, discovery and care,” Jamieson said.
Marissa Payne covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. Reach her by email at mjpayne@registermedia.com. Follow her on X at @marissajpayne.
Liam Halawith covers Johnson County local government and public safety for the Press-Citizen. Reach him by email at lhalawith@registermedia.com. Follow him on X at @liam_halawith.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Gov. Kim Reynolds signs vape tax to fund $3M pediatric cancer research
Reporting by Marissa Payne and Liam Halawith, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
