Hey check it out. I was on Maryland Morning with Sheilah Kast today, talking about the end of the session with a couple of other folks. We talked about a lot of things, including workplace rules, driver’s license legislation and the budget. It was a good time.

Also, here’s an update on Gov. Martin O’Malley’s bill signing today, as well as some of the late developments on Sine Die.

I’ll be back tomorrow with more as we continue to make sense of the three months of crazy that just wrapped up.

Well the General Assembly is out of here, and it looks like the members won’t be back for awhile. It got a bit dicey here for a little while the House and Senate worked to compromise over different versions of a bill that helps the state comply with new federal driver’s license rules that take effect this year.

There was some concern that if the legislation failed, lawmakers would have to come back to avoid trouble for Marylanders who want to use IDs for federally-controlled purposes (like getting on an airplane). There was talk all day about a special session in the making. Not to be, though.

In the end, the chambers agreed to a two-tiered license system in which all applicants have to prove their legal presence in the United States by 2015. A late conference committee amendment led to some concern that their wouldn’t be time to reprint the bill for a vote before midnight.

Both chambers passed the compromise bill around 11 p.m., which left the last hour largely for less controversial bills, many of which affected single jurisdictions.

We’ll have plenty more online and in Tuesday’s TDR. Check back with the Real Eye all day.

A conference committee of delegates and senators has agreed on a compromise on how to structure new driver’s license rules to comply with federal law. Any new licensee, and anybody who renews their license after 2015 will have to show that they’re legally in the United States.

There’s been a lot of concern today that hangups between the House and Senate would lead to a special session of the General Assembly later this year. If state driver’s licenses aren’t issued in compliance with federal code later this year, people won’t be able to use their licenses as ID for flights, entrance to federal buildings, and other important things.

Not everyone is happy with the deal. Some of the conferees were upset that the deal didn’t include a provision to grandfather in people with existing licenses, but there might be a bigger problem. One slight change that most conferees agreed to, altering the length of a license issue before the 2015 date, was approved by the committee.

This means the committee report has to be reprinted. And approved. In three hours. Is there time? We’ll see, but we might wind up back here soon. Or maybe you should bring your passport next time you head to BWI.

Del. Michael D. Smigiel Sr., R-Eastern Shore, knew the odds were against him as he tried to convince his colleagues Monday to rein in legislation that would enable the state to seize the Pimlico racetrack, home of the Preakness Stakes and owned by financially strapped Magna Entertainment Corp.

Smigiel adamantly opposes the use of eminent domain, particularly when the state uses the extraordinary power in a way that does not clearly serve the public good – such as to build a needed hospital or school.

But how, Smigiel thought, could he hope to convince his colleagues that approving the legislation would be a travesty, that the measure – then galloping down the homestretch to passage – would undermine the right of a property owner to keep and sell his land rather than have it seized by the state.

Smigiel’s conclusion: Begin with a self-deprecating joke.

So the delegate began his floor speech by saying he understands his colleagues’ desire to ensure that the Preakness – the second leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown – remains in Maryland. He said he, too, has loved the so-called “sport of kings” since his days as a jockey.

Smigiel, who casts a very large shadow, has never been confused with a jockey.

His fellow delegates laughed; listened to his concerns about the measure, Senate Bill 1072; passed it 93-43; and sent it to Gov. Martin O’Malley’s desk for his expected signature.

Though he lost the vote, the delegate did win a new nickname.

“We call him Lighthorse Smigiel,” joked Luiz R. S. Simmons, D-Montgomery, who serves with the delegate on the House Judiciary Committee.

Hey everybody. It’s getting a little bit crazy over here, so please excuse the brief update. Here are a few things we’ve been following:

-Preakness bill is passed, and headed to Gov. Martin O’Malley’s desk for a signature.

-It’s true. The heritage tax credit extension is dead for the year. Senate Budget and Taxation Committee Chairman Ulysses Currie, a Prince George’s County Democrat, said his committee first thought the bill would be too expensive and then ran out of time to review a scaled-back House version. There’s still time for an extension next year, he said.

-The House and Senate are still working on a deal on requiring people to demonstrate that they’re legally in the country to get a driver’s licenses. Earlier, it looked like the two chambers had a  potential compromise. Now it looks a little bit iffy.

-The Senate Finance Committee’s about to look at a House bill that eases income restrictions for power customers to make repayment deals with utilities if they fall behind on payments. Some in the House think this is better for short-term help for ratepayers than re-regulation would have been. I’m going over there now.

We’ll be here all day and all night, folks. The House and Senate are both rolling right now, trying to get everything done before the confetti falls at midnight. Then the lawmakers will party.

Probably the biggest development so far today is the passage of the nearly $14 billion state operating budget for fiscal 2010. There was some debate over the compromise between the House and Senate versions of the bill, but it ultimately passed by a count of 38-9. That’s the end of the budget, since the House has already signed off on the compromise.

I am also hearing that a Senate committee has killed the extension for the Heritage Structure Rehabilitation Tax Credit, set to expire next year. It passed the House, but the Senate’s apparently not going to take it up on the floor. I will update you on this as soon as I can. Now up to the floor for a vote on the bill to give the state power to buy or seize the Preakness Stakes and other property owned by Magna Entertainment Corp

Sen. J. Lowell Stoltzfus, a Republican from the Lower Shore, said he was concerned about the budget compromise, which came back with smaller cuts than what the Senate had proposed. Other Senators were upset about the $96.2 million fund balance expected at the end of the year, which they felt was relatively small.

“Our reserves have declined and our expenses have gone up in this budget, and I think it’s the wrong thing to do right now,” Stoltzfus said.

The General Assembly got more bad budget news this morning. According to a letter from Comptroller Peter Franchot, revenue collections were down by 3.2 percent in March. That’s bad, and Franchot thinks things are going to keep getting worse.

“Collections remain depressed relative to last year, consistent with current economic conditions and on par with expectations,” his letter reads. “I remain concerned, however, about the risks of a more rapid deterioration in revenues than currently expected.”

Maryland motorists have no legal obligation to use their directional signals when changing lanes - and they have the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee to thank.

By a single vote, the 11-member JPR has rejected the proposed traffic law, which the House of Delegates had approved 107-26 earlier this session.

HB 67 would have prohibited motorists from turning a vehicle to the “right or left on a roadway in order to change lanes unless the person gives an appropriate signal” - and not just a blink or two, but for at least 100 feet before changing lanes and whenever “any other vehicle might be affected” by the lane change.

Del. Brian J. Feldman, the bill’s chief sponsor, said he was surprised to learn while watching a television news broadcast that signaling before changing lanes was not already required by law in Maryland. The Montgomery County Democrat said he was further surprised when the Senate committee rejected the measure on a 6-5 vote.

But Sen. James Brochin, who voted against the bill, said there was no evidence that an accident has ever been caused by a motorist’s failure to signal before changing lanes.

“How long have we had cars in this state — 80 years?” said Brochin, D-Baltimore County. Yet “there was nobody” who testified that the law was truly necessary, he added Monday.

Warning to motorists: Maryland law still requires you to signal before making a right- or left-hand turn.

STEVE LASH, Legal Affairs Writer