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.
“National statistics say that 80% of lung cancer is caused by tobacco and when we’re looking at all the other levers, I don’t think we can set that out when it’s 80% of the narrative,” Reynolds said.
Reynolds invited University of Iowa researchers to Des Moines Thursday to release preliminary data from their study of what may be contributing to Iowa’s troubling rate of new cancer cases. “This work will have a lasting impact on our state and I appreciate the commitment of everyone involved,” Reynolds said. “…This is how transformation begins — not just with talk, but with action and when it comes to fighting cancer, Iowans deserve nothing less.”
Reynolds proposes raising the state tax on a pack of cigarettes to the national average, which is $2.01 per pack. Reynolds is recommending that the state start charging a 15% tax on vaping products and consumable hemp products. Last month she 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.
“Today’s research findings make it very clear how important healthy behaviors are for the overall health and well-being,” Reynolds said, “and my bill aims to really amplify that message.”
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 numbers aren’t good for lung cancer, they’re really not,” Reynolds said, “and it’s hard to detect.”
The governor’s husband was diagnosed with what she describes as a “fast-growing” form of lung cancer in September of 2023. “I don’t think probably if it hadn’t metastasized to the spine and he was in so much pain, I’m not sure we would have found it soon enough and Kevin doesn’t smoke,” Reynolds said. “He’s never smoked. He’s pretty trim and fit.”
Kevin Reynolds underwent immunotherapy that shrunk the tumor in six weeks and his cancer is in remission.
A group of University of Iowa researchers examined demographic factors and behaviors like smoking and binge drinking and found Iowa has similar demographic factors to Wisconsin, Minnesota, the Dakotas and Nebraska. Dr. Mary Charlton, director of the Iowa Cancer Registry, said Iowa’s cancer rate, however, is slightly higher than the region’s. “I did want to call out our incidence rates for lung cancer. This is one cancer for which we are not like our neighbors,” she said during Thursday’s news conference. “We have a higher rate…and the difference seems to be widening and unfortunately this plays out into lung cancer having a higher mortality rate in Iowa than in our neighboring states.”
Breast cancer, skin cancer and prostate cancer have been increasing more steeply in Iowa since 2013. “Colon cancer is higher in Iowa compared to the U.S., but it has been decreasing at about the same rate as in the U.S.,” she said. “While lung cancer is decreasing in both Iowa and the U.S., it is decreasing at a much slower rate in Iowa and the difference continues to widen over time.”
Dr. Jacob Oleson, a professor of biostatistics in the University of Iowa College of Public Health, said they’re still digging through the data and in year two, they will continue their analysis of environmental and genetic data as well as evidence-based prevention programs.
Governor Reynolds said cancer is a complex disease and the research is showing there’s not one single cause driving Iowa’s cancer rate. “When someone you love gets sick it’s natural to put all of your energy and resources into one thing that might stop it from happening again,” Reynolds said, “and I wish the answer was that simple.”
