DES MOINES -- Iowa's cigarette tax is now $1.36 per pack, following a jubilant bill-signing ceremony this morning.

Gov. Chet Culver signed the bill that raises the tax $1 and also boosts the tax for other tobacco products. He was surrounded by state legislators in front of an audience of several hundred supporters in the Statehouse Rotunda.

"Today, we can all celebrate a hard-fought victory," Culver said.

He cited estimates that 20,000 Iowans would stop smoking because of the higher cost and 40,000 young Iowans would never pick up the habit.

The tax takes effect iat 12:01 a.m. Friday on the wholesale level, but retailers are allowed to sell existing inventory with the previous, 36 cent, tax.

A Culver aide said it will take a week to two weeks before the higher tax filters down from the wholesale level.

The interest groups that pushed for the tax were well represented at the bill signing, including the AARP and the American Cancer Society.

"Increasing the price of tobacco products is one of the most effective steps Iowa can take to reduce the deadly toll on all of our citizens," said a statement from Daniel Smith, president of the American Center Society Cancer Action Network.

Culver said the proceeds from the tax increase will be used to expand access to health insurance and defray some of the taxpayer-covered cost of smoking-related illnesses.

The 36 cent tax was 42nd highest in the nation. The $1.36 tax is 17th in the nation, though several other states may raise their taxes above Iowa's yet this year.

The last time Iowa raised its cigarette tax was in 1991, when the tax went from 31 to 36 cents.

Contact Dan Gearino at (515) 243-0138 and dan.gearino@lee.net.