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

IT PAYS TO RECYCLE. But it doesn't always pay a lot. Patterson Heights, a tiny borough in Beaver County, took home $48 in one of several recycling grants doled out this week by the state Department of Environmental Protection. (By comparison, the guy who won the Capitol newsroom's NCAA bracket pool took home $65.)

Marion Township, also in Beaver County, got $85, while Midland borough won a whopping $309.

Other towns, typically, received much more. In all, said DEP Secretary Kathleen McGinty, the state distributed $3.8 million in community recycling grants. "These grants give residents greater access to waste reduction and recycling opportunities and help ensure a healthy environment and strong economy," she said.

Some of the grants to Allegheny County towns included $66,123 for Ross, $61,368 for Shaler, $58,526 for McCandless, $26,286 for Findlay and $25,656 for Richland. In Beaver County, Center got $13,532 and Hopewell got $11,175. In Butler County, Cranberry got $46,730 and Butler Township got $34,831.

Pennsylvania's recycling program, created in 1988, gets funding from a $2 per ton "tipping fee" on all waste dumped in a landfill.

I'LL SEE YOUR SLOTS, AND RAISE YOU A PLATE OF SPAGHETTI. Many Pennsylvania gamblers are talking about slot machine casinos coming to the state in 2006 or 2007. But state Reps. John Pallone, D-Westmoreland, and Harry Readshaw, D-Carrick, are thinking about other games of chance -- poker and the state lottery.

Pallone has introduced a bill to allow charitable and veterans groups plus fire companies and other nonprofit associations to host poker tournaments. "Games of chance are often played at spaghetti dinners, fund-raisers, fairs and other meetings as a fun way to a group to raise money," he said.

Such groups already can conduct small games of chance such as bingo at their fund-raisers. Pallone wants to add poker games, including a popular game called Texas Hold 'em, to current law.

His bill would establish rules for poker tournaments, including: limiting entry fees to $100 per person; setting betting limits at $5 per bet with no more than five raises; limiting prizes to the first-place through fifth-place finishers.

"Poker tournaments could spice up events for many worthwhile groups and bring in additional money for their cause," Pallone said.

Meanwhile, Readshaw wants to allow senior citizens to win modest amounts in the state lottery without voiding their eligibility for two important aid programs.

He said that some seniors who win a small jackpot in the lottery can actually hurt themselves, because winning pushes their income above the eligibility limit for the PACE and PACENET prescription drug programs and the property tax and rent rebate programs.

Sometimes, he said, the higher cost of their medicines or taxes offsets or even eliminates their lottery winnings. Readshaw wants to let a senior to win up to $5,000 in the lottery without having it count against his or her eligibility for the PACE and rebate programs.

THE PRICE IS RIGHT. What's better than cheap prescription drugs through the state's PACE and PACENET programs?

How about free prescription drugs?

Three thousand people are eligible for the state's little-known free prescription benefit, but only 1,000 have signed up so far.

The Pennsylvania Department of Aging encouraged consumers to take advantage of a free prescription drug benefit, offering $600 worth of generic medications to residents of any age who are low income, disabled and without health insurance coverage, according to a news release from the governor's office.

The drug benefit is part of a 2004 settlement between the Pennsylvania Attorney General's office, 19 other states and Medco Health Solutions Inc., the nation's largest pharmacy benefits manager. The settlement was the result of claims that Medco violated the states' various unfair trade practices laws. The firm told doctors to switch patients to different medications to save the patients money, but the firm did not always pass the savings on to patients or their health plans, states alleged.

Under the settlement, Medco agreed to provide the states with funds to assist consumers with their prescription drug costs. Pennsylvania's share was $1.8 million to be used to defray medication costs for approximately 3,000 residents. Seniors who want to enroll should contact the PACE at 1-800-955-0989, weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Those who qualify will receive $600 in generic medications for use through April 2006.

BILL DROPS. State Rep. Edward Wojnaroski, D-Cambria, has introduced two pieces of legislation to help Pennsylvanians serving in the military, and their families. One would require employers to extend health insurance for six months to employees called to active duty, the other would exempt from the state's inheritance tax property inherited from military personnel who died in combat since Sept. 11, 2001. Wojnaroski is the father of a soldier.

Senate bill No. 584 would amend the state's crime code, creating a new penalty for anyone who "removes or attempts to remove a firearm, rifle, shotgun or weapon from the person of a law enforcement officer or corrections officer." That bill is partly in response to last month's Georgia courthouse shooting, which happened after the gunman wrestled a gun from a sheriff's sergeant.

Another Senate bill would create a "Firefighter Mortgage Assistance Program," providing low-interest loans to firefighters, to help them buy houses within the municipalities they serve.

Rep. Joseph Markosek, D-Monroeville, plans to introduce a bill to allow hunters to buy antlerless deer licenses directly from the Pennsylvania Game Commission Web site.

Finally, state Rep. Daylin Leach, a Democrat from Montgomery County, is introducing a bill to end the practice of "gerrymandering," or hand-drawing, Pennsylvania's electoral districts. Every 10 years, voting district lines are redrawn, in theory to reflect population shifts, but in actuality, the party in power uses the opportunity to draw districts that will result in noncompetitive elections, Leach said. Not surprisingly, Leach's Democrats are the minority party in Harrisburg these days.

THIS COLUMN IS CHEAPER IF YOU BUY IT AT WAL-MART. Lawmakers in Maryland's state capitol are edging toward an anti-Wal-Mart law that, if successful there, could have ramifications in Pennsylvania and nationwide.

Maryland lawmakers approved legislation that would require Wal-Mart, and only Wal-Mart, to boost spending on health care, several Maryland newspapers reported this week.

"We're looking for responsible businesses to ante up [and] provide adequate health care," said Democratic state Sen. Thomas M. Middleton, quoted by the Washington Post.

Lawmakers, according to the Post, claimed they were not singling out the retailing giant when they wrote a bill requiring any organization with more than 10,000 employees in the state to either spend at least 8 percent of its payroll on health benefits, or put the money directly into the state's health program for the poor.

But Wal-Mart, which has 15,000 workers in Maryland, was the only company that would be affected, because it's the only company with more than 10,000 employees in Maryland.

Republicans opposed the bill, saying government ought not meddle in private enterprise.

HOUSE RESOLUTION OF THE WEEK. Get out your calendars: House resolution 229 would designate the week of May 15 as "Arteriovenous Malformation Awareness Week" in Pennsylvania. The malformation in question is a defect of the circulatory system, lesions that generally develop during embryonic or fetal stages. The lesions, which restrict blood blow to capillaries, is harmless in most patients, but about 36,000 of them in America suffer from headaches, seizures, muscle weakness and even hallucinations. SENATE RESOLUTION OF THE WEEK. Staying with a medical theme, April 10-16 is "Dr. Jonas Salk Week" in Pennsylvania. Salk and a team of researchers developed the polio vaccine at the University of Pittsburgh.