Iowa General Assembly Votes to Eliminate the State’s Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Program

Today, the Iowa House passed legislation, HF2673 to eliminate the state’s longstanding Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Program. HF2673 would collapse tobacco prevention under a larger behavioral agency along with programs related to gambling, substance abuse and addiction disorders. After previously passing the Senate, the bill now heads to Governor Reynolds who is expected to sign it. The FY25 Health and Human Services state budget bill currently being considered also eliminates dedicated funding for the state’s tobacco prevention program.

The Iowa Tobacco Prevention Alliance, comprised of public health organizations committed to reducing tobacco-related death and disease by advocating for effective tobacco control policies issued this statement in response:

“The Iowa Tobacco Prevention Alliance is disappointed that Iowa may no longer have a dedicated tobacco prevention and control program.

“Removing explicit statutory language that ensures there is dedicated programming and funding for Iowa’s highly effective tobacco prevention program is a major mistake. Consolidation of such a critical public health program in its entirety is a disservice to Iowa communities and threatens the progress that Iowa’s successful tobacco program has made over the last 24 years.

“Iowa’s tobacco prevention program has undoubtedly saved lives in Iowa. When the Iowa Smokefree Air Act passed in 2008, more than 21% of Iowa adults smoked cigarettes; today, that rate is nearly 15%. The high school smoking rate is at an all-time low of just over 4%. Despite this progress, there are still over 345,000 people who smoke cigarettes in the state and Iowa’s smoking rate remains above the national average of 12.9%. The fight to prevent and reduce tobacco use is not close to being finished.

“Tobacco use is still the leading cause of preventable death nationwide. In Iowa, tobacco use causes more than 5,000 deaths each year and more than $1.2 billion in healthcare costs. Although the high-school smoking rate has been drastically reduced, the overall tobacco use rate among Iowa high-school students is more than 16%, largely due to e-cigarettes.

“Due to high rates of youth tobacco use in recent years, largely due to skyrocketing rates of e-cigarette use, the decades of progress that has been made in reducing tobacco use rates in youth is now in jeopardy. A well-funded, fact-based tobacco control program is needed to counteract the $100.8 million per year that tobacco companies are spending on marketing their deadly and addictive products in Iowa. As Big Tobacco has been working hard to addict future generations with e-cigarettes and other tobacco products, the need for funding for tobacco prevention programs has never been greater.

“We know that tobacco prevention programs work; now is not the time to scale back our efforts that have been proven to save the lives of Iowans. We urge Iowa officials to ensure that the state’s lifesaving tobacco prevention programs continue despite passage of this bill.”

If signed into law, the change would take effect July 1, 2025.

Members of the Iowa Tobacco Prevention Alliance (ITPA):

American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
American Heart Association
American Lung Association
Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights
Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
Clean Air for Everyone Iowa

About the ITPA

The Iowa Tobacco Prevention Alliance (ITPA) is comprised of public health organizations committed to reducing tobacco-related death and disease by advocating for effective tobacco control policies that prevent Iowans from starting and helping them quit. Collectively, ITPA is committed to implementing comprehensive, fact-based tobacco control policies to reduce the use of all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes.