One leg of Quinn/Madigan's three-pronged tax hike is ready for a House vote Tuesday ...

An Illinois House committee tonight advanced a $1-a-pack cigarette tax hike that would raise some $375 million annually, most of it earmarked for education.

Raising the state sales tax from 98 cents a pack to $1.98 a pack, and encouraging more cig buyers to the state's borders, passing this tax supposedly is buying votes for the ultimate state income tax hike Madigan and the governor want.

If approved by the full House and then the Senate, the measure could ease the way for a controversial state income tax hike sought by Gov. Pat Quinn, since it would provide additional school funding that some lawmakers are insisting upon as a condition of the income tax hike.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch