In its final month of session, the Washington State Legislature sees strong efforts in passing legislation to ban flavored tobacco products within the state amid fears of youth health and increasing addiction. Two identical bills have been introduced into both the House and Senate that, if passed, would end the sale of flavored tobacco products while increasing taxes on products containing tobacco and nicotine.
House Bill 2068, sponsored by Democratic Rep. Kristine Reeves, was introduced April 1 into the Committee on Finance and is scheduled for an executive session April 18, pending changes. The bill has large support from 50 national and state representatives and organizations over a broad subset of the political system; community groups, education coalitions, and health institutions, namely the American Heart Association and the American Lung Association, among others.
“[We’ve received] lots of support for this legislation,” Reeves said. “I think this is a bill that our kids in the classroom are tracking, and we’ve had a ton of young folks come out in support of it. We’ve had communities of color come out in support of this ... it’s been great to see the level of support that folks have for ending the sale of flavor tobacco in our state.”
The House bill sees a companion counterpart in the form of Senate Bill 5803, sponsored by Democratic Sen. T’wina Nobles. It was first read to Ways & Means on March 29.
Many state non-profits and interest groups, namely Flavors Hook Kids Washington, have worked hard in garnering support for the legislation and assisting state legislators in their efforts.
“We are singularly focused on ending the sale of flavored tobacco products as a policy goal,” Washington superintendent and campaign manager of Flavors Hook Kids Washington Andrew Estep said. “Overall we want to decrease the number of youth addicted to tobacco products.”
While the state has always engaged in reformative efforts regarding the sale of tobacco products, namely through the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) which imposed major restrictions on big tobacco’s advertising and marketing strategies within the state, the conversation has been recharged to encompass a new market that targets children.
“One of the most important things we do in work is trying to connect the through line of the addiction for these young people early in life to the health disparities, the damage, and the cost for these folks later in life,” Estep said.
Yet considering the state revenue generated through the sale of flavored tobacco products as well as commercial tobacco involvement in stopping legislation’s passage, lawmakers are skeptical when considering what success could look like.
”It does kill revenue for the state, ending the sale of tobacco,” Reeves said. “It’s been estimated to cost anywhere from 80-150 million dollars. It’s a hard choice to say we’re gonna stop taking in that revenue in a year when we’re having much bigger budget conversations about how to keep people fed and housed. [...] When are we gonna choose to stop taking this revenue because it’s bad for our public health at a time when we need money to be able to keep kids fed and in school and keep healthcare available to everybody?”
Reeves and other lawmakers hope to resolve issues and come to stronger unanimity regarding legislative efforts over the summer before the 2026-2027 legislative session.
“It’s actually really disappointing to me that we generate revenue as a state on the addiction or the addictive behaviors of products like this,” Reeves said. “We really need to be thinking about how we transition away from it, you know, it’s not just a regressive tax but it’s an aggressive tax that targets people with a lifelong addiction.”
Reach statewide politics beat writer Ella Goulet at news@dailyuw.com. X: @ella_goulet
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