By: Nicholas Sohr

Tuesday’s bill signing ceremony will be dominated by coverage over the state’s “Dream Act,” which will allow illegal immigrants to pay in-state college tuition. But, Gov. Martin O’Malley and legislative leaders will also put their pens to new laws regarding casinos, wine and workers’ compensation insurance.

O’Malley, Speaker of the House Michael E. Busch and Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. will sign a bill that lawmakers hope will make casino owners play nice. The legislation, SB 383 and HB 868, was prompted by the battles waged by The Cordish Cos. and the owners of the Maryland Jockey Club over the Anne Arundel slots license.

The law will bar licensed casino owners from preventing or delaying the opening of other gambling operations in the state, but stops short of limiting free speech, giving the Maryland Lottery Agency authority to referee disputes between casino owners “to the fullest extent allowed by the First Amendment.”

The General Assembly also sweetened the pot for casino developers considering a bid on the gaming license at Rocky Gap Lodge & Resort. The law – SB 512 – will knock the tax rate on slots proceeds from 67 percent to 50 percent for 10 years, and waive $3 million in license fees. The Video Lottery Facility Location Commission is expected to begin seeking a developer – the third time the state will do so – next month.

Oenophiles will also have something to toast. Lawmakers passed a watered-down version of direct wine shipping legislation this year, allowing in- and out-of-state wineries to ship directly to Maryland consumers, and O’Malley is scheduled to sign SB 248 and HB 1175 today. Supporters of the legislation had hoped to include retailers in the bill, but staunch opposition from the state’s liquor lobby removed retailers from the bill. So, we have likely not seen the last of direct wine shipping legislation.

O’Malley will also sign a bill that will subject the Injured Workers’ Insurance Fund to the state’s 2 percent premium tax.

IWIF has been exempted from the tax as the state’s quasi-public insurer of last resort. But, the company’s business extends well beyond that role. It has 21 percent of the state’s workers’ compensation insurance market and is the largest such insurer in the state, according to legislative analysts.