(The Center Square) — The Louisiana House is weighing two bills by Rep. Ken Brass, D-Ascension, that would significantly increase taxes on vaping and smokeless tobacco products, aiming to curb youth use and fund cessation efforts..

House Bill 517, which has passed committee and is now headed to the House floor, would replace the state’s current tax on vaping products — 0.15 cents per milliliter of nicotine liquid — with a 33% tax on the invoice price of those products, starting Jan. 1, 2026. Retailers and wholesalers would be required to submit an inventory of their stock by Feb. 1, 2026, based on their holdings at the end of 2025.

Another bill by Brass would raise the excise tax on smokeless tobacco from 20% to 33% of the invoice price and dedicate 20% of the proceeds to a newly created Youth Cessation and Prevention Fund. That money would be divided among cancer research centers and the state Department of Health for evidence-based anti-tobacco programs. 

Brass told the House Ways and Means Committee that the rising use of vaping among children makes the issue urgent.

“Nearly one in five middle school students are currently vaping,” Brass said. “That’s a dramatic increase from just a few years ago — back in 2015, only 4.8% of middle schoolers vaped. Now it’s 18.4%. Among high school students, it’s jumped to over 30%.”

He warned that early nicotine use can have lifelong consequences.

“Most youth try tobacco between ages 12 and 13,” Brass said. “That early exposure has lasting effects — increased risk of depression, anxiety, and substance abuse. This is not just a school issue — it’s a statewide public health and economic issue. Smoking costs Louisiana billions in health care and productivity losses.”

But some Republicans questioned the strategy of using taxes as a deterrent.

“What I’m hearing is we have all these people breaking rules, and we’re going to fix it by making it more expensive,” said Rep. Roger Wilder, R-Livingston. “If you’re vaping in school, that’s already against school rules and the law for anyone under 21. Are schools even serious about enforcement?”

Wilder argued that without stronger action at the school or criminal justice level, the tax might not be an effective deterrent.

“Do we have a bill in education or criminal justice to actually address this where it’s happening—on the ground, in schools?” he asked. “I agree with the intent. I’m just not sure it’s going to be a real deterrent.”

Rep. Jay Galle, R-St. Tammany, echoed those concerns.

“Addictions are rarely deterred by an increase in price,” Galle said. “I understand this is a sin tax, but again, price alone rarely changes behavior.”

Brass defended the tax increases as one part of a larger effort to reduce nicotine use and shift the economic burden away from the state.

If the bills are signed into law, the vape tax increase would take effect Jan. 1, 2026, and the smokeless tobacco tax increase would begin July 1, 2025.