WA lawmakers want to make vaping and cigarettes more expensive

During last year’s legislative session, Washington Democrats pursued a cigarette-tax hike that ultimately didn’t cross the finish line. Now they’re trying again.

Bills filed this session would raise the state’s current cigarette tax by $2, up to $5 per pack of 20.

Senate Majority Leader Jamie Pedersen recently told TVW that major new taxes aren’t going to be considered to mend the deficit in the fiscal year 2027 budget, with lawmakers instead largely relying on cuts and transfers. He did, however, say that other tax tweaks could help reach that goal, including by boosting the cigarette tax.

Heidi Low, regional advocacy director for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said increasing that tax would help prevent kids from starting smoking, and that it would save adult lives.

“It’s a win-win for the state,” she said in an interview, adding that the legislation would drum up revenue while also saving the state money in the long-run in terms of health-care costs.

Some 8,400 Washington high school students smoke, according to data on the campaign’s website, while nearly 500,000 adults in the state do the same.

Youth cigarette use has decreased significantly over the years, Low said. A big reason? The previous bump in the tobacco tax 16 years ago, she continued.

Natalie Hester, campaign manager for the Youth Tobacco Prevention Washington campaign, noted that communities of color and Black people specifically have been targeted over the years by promotion for flavored cigarettes such as menthols. This has led to high rates of stroke, heart disease and cancer in these and low-income communities, she said.

“A lot of them will quit if we can get this tax increase in place,” Hester told McClatchy. “It is really critical for communities of color.”

Democrat-backed proposals by state Sen. June Robinson of Everett and Rep. Lisa Parshley of Olympia would both raise the cigarette tax to $5. The current rate is $3.025 per package of 20 cigarettes.

They’d also change how other tobacco products (OTP) are taxed in Washington; Robinson’s bill, for instance, would repeal the vapor products tax and existing OTP tax rates, supplanting them with a rate of 90% of the taxable selling price for all nicotine products starting July 1, 2027, per the bill report. That same date, an additional tax on flavored nicotine products — meaning any nicotine product with a smell or taste other than that of tobacco, including vapes meeting that definition — would take hold at a rate of 10% of the taxable selling price.

In other words, if someone were to buy a $10 flavored vape at distribution, they’d pay $20 when factoring in the tax. That tax would get rolled into the retail price, with a vape-retailer customer also paying retail sales tax, which is typically about 10% when considering local and state taxes.

Starting Jan. 1, 2028, flavored cigarettes like menthol would also see an additional spike for a total per-package tax rate of $5.50.

Several groups lined up in opposition to Robinson’s bill, which received a hearing in the Senate Ways & Means Committee Jan. 22 at 4 p.m.

The Association of Washington Business views Senate Bill 6129 as a “regressive” tax.

“It will fall hardest on lower income Washingtonians,” Max Martin, AWB’s government affairs director for tax and fiscal policy, said via email.

In a call, Parshley classified her legislation, House Bill 2382, as part of an ongoing effort since last session ended. She referenced similar bills from Robinson and state Rep. Kristine Reeves, a Federal Way Democrat, adding that she’s attempting to bring the three together to provide a single option to both chambers.

Parshley said her bill would generate revenue that would initially go to the state’s flagging general fund, later getting refocused into multiple public health-focused buckets, including the Andy Hill Cancer Research Endowment Fund and the state’s foundational public health services account.

As a veterinary oncologist, Parshley said she’s seen firsthand that second-hand smoke causes cancers in animals, not to mention the well-known health risks for humans.

Washington spends more than $3 billion a year on health care related to smoking-caused disease, she said.

“The state is not trying to penalize anyone, but we’re trying to make sure we can care for everyone,” Parshley said.

State Rep. Ed Orcutt, a Kalama Republican, is opposed to raising the cigarette tax, which he noted would put the state’s rate higher than those in Oregon and Idaho. He posited that more people, including in his region of southwest Washington, will cross the border to pick up cheaper packs — and that some local convenience stores might have to “start worrying about more theft.”

This push is just another effort to balance the budget, he told McClatchy.

“It seems to be more about filling a hole in the budget that’s there because of overspending,” Orcutt said.

Parshley acknowledges the revenue-generating component of her bill but emphasized its public-health aims.

“Yes, we’re driving revenue, but the revenue is to turn around and be able to help the people,” she said.

The governor’s office puts the state’s current deficit at $2.3 billion.

A preliminary fiscal note discussed at the Jan. 22 hearing estimates that Robinson’s bill would increase state revenues by some $117 million in the 2027-29 biennium and $142 million in the following biennium, which includes distributions to the foundational public health services and Andy Hill cancer research accounts. For Parshley’s bill, a fiscal note was not yet posted to the state Legislature’s website as of Thursday evening.

Crystal Leatherman with the Washington Retail Association cited concerns that there could be unintended consequences from such legislation. She said in other states where there are significant cigarette tax hikes, the unregulated market booms, leading to lost tax revenue.

Retailers work to ensure that they’re “responsible stewards and access points for of-age customers,” Leatherman said in a call.

“Where the concern is is that these policies actually, while well-intentioned, could drive sales away from their establishments,” she said.

HB 2382 is up for a hearing in the House Finance Committee on Jan. 30 at 1:30 p.m.

This story was originally published January 24, 2026 at 5:00 AM.

Simone Carter

The Olympian

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