Legislation to ban tobacco products on all 10 University of Hawaii campuses and raise the cigarette tax to the highest in the nation is closer to becoming law.

Two key committees — House Health &Human Services and Higher Education — passed Senate Bill 134 Wednesday. The Senate approved the bill earlier. It must pass one more House committee and the full House before moving to the governor for his signature.

The bill requires the UH campuses to be tobacco-free, banning the use of cigars, chewing tobacco and electronic cigarettes, which has become more prevalent among Hawaii youth. Roughly 1,800 university campuses nationwide have similar policies, including Hawaii Pacific University.

“We are one step closer to a day where we can be a tobacco-free generation,” said Tiffany Marquez, a 36-year-old UH-Manoa public health major, who spoke at a news conference. Marquez is part of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network’s lobbying team. “Tobacco remains the single greatest cause of preventable death in the United States. We need to help ensure we can eliminate exposure to second-hand smoke and all tobacco in our learning environment. We also need to think about our future generation.”

The university currently allows each campus to create its own rules around tobacco use. UH-Manoa and Kapiolani Community College have implemented no-smoking policies, but none of the campuses are completely free of tobacco.

While the number of tobacco users has declined in Hawaii, the use of e-cigarettes — known as vaping — is rising at alarming rates, particularly among youths, according to the state Health Department.

In 2017 about 10,700 — or 1 in 4 high school teens — and 4,400, or 1 in 5 middle schoolers, reported using electronic vaping products. In 2016 about 46,200 adults also said they used the electronic devices. That equates to about 25.5 percent of high school students, 15.7 percent of middle schoolers and 4.3 percent of adults.

“This is a very significant moment,” said Rep. John Mizuno (D, Kalihi Valley) chairman of the Health and Human Services Committee, which passed another measure Tuesday that would impose the highest tax in the nation on cigarettes at $4.50 per pack. The current tax is $3.20. “Every year 1,400 lives are lost because of tobacco. It’s the right thing to do. It’s not about making more money for the state coffers. This tax is not to get the government rich. It’s to save 1,400 lives.”

Mizuno’s committee also passed a bill to increase the annual license fee for tobacco wholesalers and dealers.

Smoking is estimated to cost $526 million in health care expenditures and $387 million in lost productivity each year (in Hawaii), he said.

More than a million of the roughly 20 million college and university students in America are projected to die prematurely from the use of cigarettes. Almost all smokers start before age 26.

“We are one step closer to ensuring clean, healthy air for myself and for the 51,000 other students across the UH system,” said Stormy Dodge, 25, a UH graduate student in the college of education.