INDIANAPOLIS | Senate leaders want to create a gambling czar to eradicate thousands of video poker and electronic slot machines that offer illicit payouts in taverns, truck stops and gas stations across the state.

Businesses caught running the rackets could be stripped of their retail licenses and liquor permits and lose their rights to sell cigarettes and lottery tickets. And 25 new officers would be added to the Indiana Excise Police, which raided a Hobart banquet hall on illegal gambling charges in late 2005.

The Indiana Gaming Commission estimates that about 30,000 of the electronic gambling machines are scattered across the state. Senate President David Long calls them "the most insidious and terrible of gambling options."

"It is a scourge on our state, and I think we need to try to draw a line in the sand," said Long, a Republican from Fort Wayne. "They're addictive, they cheat people and, as far as I'm concerned, eliminating these is a positive thing for the state."

Others, including the Indiana Licensed Beverage Association, argue that bar owners, as well as state coffers, would get a tremendous boost if Indiana legalized and taxed the electronic devices. They currently are not illegal to own, but proprietors are prohibited from making payouts.

"Let's bring this dark crime out into the light and control it," argues Sen. Robert Meeks, R-LaGrange. "I understand that we ought to make 'em legal or get rid of 'em, but if we have the current laws on the books I don't know how putting more on is going to eliminate the problem."

The enforcement effort, House Bill 1510, cleared the Senate 38-11 last week and appears headed to a joint House-Senate conference committee.

Long says Gov. Mitch Daniels supports the measure, but some Democrats don't see the need to create a special statewide prosecutor to root out illegal gambling.

"There seems to be a tremendous lack of confidence in the voters of this state by the Republican Party," said House Speaker Pat Bauer, D-South Bend. "There are prosecutors elected in every county."

Lake and Porter County prosecutors did not return phone messages on Friday, nor did the Association of Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys.

The move to wipe out gambling in bars and other dark corners comes as the General Assembly moves closer that ever to authorizing thousands of slot machines at a pair of struggling southern Indiana horse racing tracks -- an effort lawmakers are counting on to create a windfall for property tax relief.

BREAKOUT:

House Bill 1510 would:

-- Outlaw "cherry master" slots, video poker and similar electronic devices in public places

-- Create the state office of "special prosecuting attorney for gambling enforcement"

-- Add 25 new Indiana Excise Police, a 28 percent increase in manpower

-- Allow the state to strip offenders' retail merchant permits, alcohol and tobacco licenses and lottery contracts