Nearly six months after Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed a bill aimed at reducing youth vaping, its lead sponsor is trying to pass similar legislation.

Senate President Gary Stevens (R-Kodiak) on Wednesday introduced Senate Bill 89, which seeks to impose a statewide tax on vaping products for the first time. The bill also raises the legal age under state law to buy, sell or distribute these products to 21, in line with federal law; currently, the legal age in Alaska is 19.

In a statement, Stevens said the bill was needed to address rising rates of e-cigarette use.

"Alaska has an aggressive underage sales enforcement program that has reduced sales of smoking products to minors, but more is needed to see tobacco use decline in Alaska, especially among young Alaskans. ’” Stevens said in a statement released Thursday.

He pointed to the findings of the latest state tobacco report released by the state Department of Health in December. The Alaska Tobacco Facts Update says that while teen smoking rates have dropped dramatically since the 1990s, teen use of vaping products has increased substantially, nearly offsetting the decline.

"This is about protecting our children from nicotine addiction and their ability to access these products," Stevens said in a statement.

The Legislature last year passed a bill he sponsored on the same subject by large margins in both chambers. It would impose a 35% tax on the wholesale price of vaping products.

But Dunleavy objected to the tax it imposed, saying that was the reason for his veto.

Stevens' statement said taxes are effective in reducing tobacco use, both by deterring young people from developing the habit and by helping to motivate adults to quit.

Alaska's state tobacco tax has not changed since 2006, before e-cigarettes dominated the market.

This year's version takes a different approach to the tax than last year's bill: a 25 percent tax on the retail price of products, rather than on the wholesale price.

Stevens' bill has four co-sponsors in a bipartisan majority coalition in the Senate, including Majority Leader Cathy Gissell, an Anchorage Republican who is an advanced practice registered nurse.

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