SPRINGFIELD - State lawmakers have moved to lift the biggest roadblock keeping video gambling machines out of Illinois bars.

Last week, the General Assembly voted to give the Illinois Gaming Board more than $2.5 million more to spend, money it needed to hire staff to begin regulating video gambling.

Earlier this year, Gov. Pat Quinn and lawmakers legalized gambling machines such as video poker in bars to pay for a massive road and building construction program.

For months, though, none of the machines have been activated, as the Gaming Board works on rules to regulate the new form of Illinois gambling.

If Quinn approves the spending, new Gaming Board staff can start reviewing applications from would-be machine owners within several months.

"There was only so much we could do without the funding," Gaming Board spokesman Gene O'Shea said. "That was our main roadblock."

He said it's still hard to say when video gambling will hit Illinois bars, but machines could be playable by the end of next year.

The Gaming Board funding was part of a larger spending package approved by lawmakers. They refused, however, to approve legislation that would have allowed gambling machines to be used in truck stops 24 hours a day.

State Rep. Lou Lang, D-Evanston, said that plan still can be approved early next year, but getting the board money was more important.

"That was the one thing we couldn't do without," Lang said.

Still, many communities across the state already have voted to ban video gambling in their areas.

At least two dozen local bans have been enacted. The trend has led some critics to question whether the machines will raise enough money to support the construction for which they were supposed to pay.

Gambling opponent Anita Bedell, director of Illinois Church Action on Alcohol and Addiction problems, said follow-up legislation such as the truck stop plan is evidence the original proposal wasn't done well.

"This was done so fast, so hastily, it's not done right," she said.

mike.riopell@lee.net|789-0865