As state legislative support for a cigarette-tax hike grew in late May, anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist and other conservatives stepped into the Illinois fray.
A top House Republican said more than a week ago that the roll call in favor of a dollar-a-pack cigarette-tax hike was in the double digits within his caucus. The tax would raise $700 million, including the federal match, to help close the Medicaid program's gaping $2.7-billion budget hole.
In return, Republicans won concessions from the Democrats, particularly when it came to sparing doctors from Governor Pat Quinn's proposed Medicaid-provider rate cuts.
