Welcome to the April Fool's Day edition of Capitol Notes, a regular, online-only, easy-to-swallow capsule of Harrisburg-related tidbits that didn't make it into newsprint.

A FOOL AND HIS MONEY . . . Just over the Pennsylvania border, in Wilmington, Del., developers are hoping to build a 50-acre casino resort, partly in an effort to compete with Pennsylvania's soon-to-open slots parlors.

To build the resort, Delaware would have to change its state gambling law, which currently allows for slots parlors on sites related to racetracks or the horse racing industry. The proposed Diamond Casino Resort could have up to 4,000 slot machines, a 400-room hotel, a dinner theater, restaurants and a marina.

Several neighboring states -- Delaware, as well as New Jersey and West Virginia, all of which allow gambling to one degree or another -- worry that Pennsylvania's parlors could draw customers from their own casinos. In Delaware and West Virginia, there has been talk of tweaking the existing gambling laws to allow for table games, like poker and blackjack.

Maryland is also contemplating a slots legalization law.

ON THAT NOTE. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board meeting will meet at 1 p.m. April 12 at the Capitol in Harrisburg.

IF YOU SEE ONE VIDEOCONFERENCE THIS YEAR . . . Make it this one. Especially if you're a school board member. Gov. Ed Rendell will conduct a videoconference with school board directors from across the state on Tuesday. He hopes to convince more districts to opt into Act 72, the law passed last year that allows school districts to partake in the slot-revenue windfall, as long as they agree to reduce property taxes and increase the local earned income.

The districts must also agree to a so-called "back-end referendum," which means school board members would have to get permission to raise the property tax rate above the rate of inflation, except in certain circumstances.

THEY SAY IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY. If you happen to get stopped for speeding by a state trooper next month, it might not hurt to wish him happy birthday, though there's no guarantee that will get you out of a ticket.

In case you weren't aware of it, this year is the 100th anniversary of the 1905 founding of the Pennsylvania State Police. In honor of that, the Legislature will soon act on a measure to designate May 2 of each year as Pennsylvania State Police Day.

The bill was approved by a House committee this week. The bill requires the governor to issue a proclamation each May 2 "to commemorate the sacrifices and devotion to duty of those who serve as officers in the Pennsylvania State Police and in remembrance of those killed in the line of duty."

SEASONS IN THE SUN. The governor's mansion -- pardon, his "residence" -- has been fitted with a new 2.8-kilowatt solar power system. The system will power the entire residence with electricity in the event of a blackout, providing the governor, his wife and key kitchen appliances at least 22 hours of backup power.

"This first-of-its-kind project highlights the importance of investing in renewable energy technology as a tool to ensure a reliable energy supply if the power grid ever goes down," said Kathleen McGinty, secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection.

"The project also showcases Pennsylvania's national leadership on energy issues. Diversifying our energy resources is a key piece of ensuring against economic and security vulnerabilities."

The system will also generate electricity continuously during the daytime, which means the home won't use as much electricity from its usual utility supplier.

The project was funded by a $20,000 grant from the state Public Utility Commission, while BP Products North America Inc. contributed an additional $19,250.

VALUABLE VOLUMES. Say you owned hundreds and hundreds of rare books, some dating back centuries, worth half a billion dollars. Where do you keep them?

You store them in an airtight vault, of course, that shields the books from temperature changes, bright light and -- most dangerously -- moisture.

But before you can build that vault, you must first build the "transitional" area that leads into the vault. That area would include a vapor barrier and an airlock that prevents moisture and air from entering the vault when you open the doors.

You may not have this dilemma, but the state library in Harrisburg does. They're building a 3,000-square-foot vault that will house the state's most valuable books. But before they do that, they need to build the $3.75 million transition chamber.

The state this week began its search for engineers to design the chamber, which will connect the museum's library to the new vault, according to capitolwire.com.

SOLIDARITY, SHMOLIDARITY. Some conservative Republican legislators don't think employees should be forced to join a union or pay union dues as a condition of their employment at a company or government agency in Pennsylvania. So they've introduced a package of bills aimed at "ending the practice of compulsory unionism in Pennsylvania."

One of the sponsors, Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-Cranberry, said the drafters of the U.S. Constitution "did not intend for our government to become an enforcer for unions."

Rep. Teresa Forcier, R-Crawford, said that currently, two-thirds of the public school employees in Pennsylvania and nearly three-fourths of all teachers "must join [a union] or pay union dues in order to keep their jobs."

The "right to work" legislation would ensure that any employee can decide for himself/herself whether to join a union at the workplace and whether he or she wants to pay union dues. Also, the collective bargaining unit at the workplace wouldn't have to provide benefits, such as filing of grievances or seeking wage increases, for employees who chose not to join the union.

The legislators said the bills "would not strip away the right of any labor union to exist and to provide services to their voluntary members."

WELCOME TO DULLSVILLE. The state Capitol has a lot of news that might be called DBI -- Dull, But Important.

State Rep. Mike Turzai, R-Bradford Woods, is pushing a proposal that might fall into that category. Of course, if you're a business owner, you'd probably be very interested in it.

Turzai wants to remove the current $2 million cap on business losses that can be carried forward from one year to another. For example, if a business loses $10 million in 2003 but earns a $15 million profit in 2004, it can carry forward only $2 million of the 2003 loss to offset the taxes it owes in 2004. Turzai thinks the business should be able to use the full $10 million to lower its state taxes. He said most other states don't limit businesses in this way, which makes Pennsylvania uncompetitive.

Of course, allowing a business a bigger tax break in this way will cost the state treasury some money. Turzai and Rep. David Levdansky, D-Forward, disagreed this week on how much the state will lose. Turzai said it's probably about $120 million a year, but Levdansky feared it could be more.

He said the state will have to cut some area of spending if it loses money from Turzai's business tax break.

Turzai said Levdansky "is, with all due respect, trying to have his cake and eat it too," meaning he wants to appear to be pro-business but isn't really.

Levdansky took offense at the remark, saying that in 20 years of politics no one had ever accused him of that.

Turzai's bill was approved 20-1 by the House Finance Committee, with only Levdansky opposed. Turzai said staffers will now prepare a "fiscal note" on how much the move will cost the state.

Turzai said he might look at cutting funds for a new job-training program by Gov. Ed Rendell to make up for the lost money.

MORE INSIDE BASEBALL. The state Supreme Court this week upheld Gov. Ed Rendell's veto of a controversial factory-farm bill sent to him by the Republican-controlled Legislature.

Republican leaders said Rendell had failed to notify lawmakers of his veto within a 10-day deadline prescribed by state law, meaning the veto didn't count and the bill was law.

The court disagreed, but did not offer a full opinion. Senate Republicans said they were disappointed with the decision.

HOUSE RESOLUTION OF THE WEEK. Get out your calendars: April 24 is now "Pennsylvania's Day of Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923." For those who don't know, we're talking about the 1.5 million Armenian men, women and children who were "victims of the brutal genocide perpetrated by the Turkish Ottoman Empire," according to House Resolution 172.

SENATE RESOLUTION OF THE WEEK. We're a day late, but it turns out that March was "69th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry" month, to honor the Civil War regiment more familiarly -- and, at the time, derisively -- known as the Irish Brigade.