Tuesday is the 59th day of the 60-day session.

Lawmakers completed some of their most important work of the session last week, but senators will probably be most remembered for their contentious ouster of Peter Young as the director of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.

Young was the second of Republican Gov. Linda Lingle's nominees to be rejected by the Senate this year — the first was Public Safety Director Iwalani White — a move lawmakers justified by questioning Young's ability to manage and improve the department.

The full Senate vote on Young came in the midst of a busy week of conference committee meetings as representatives and senators sought to reach agreement on the final bills they want to go to the floor for a vote on Tuesday and Thursday, the final two days of the session.

Assuming the bills pass the full Legislature this week, low-income residents will benefit from two tax relief measures passed Friday night.

One satisfied a constitutional requirement to provide a rebate after two years of budget surpluses. While there had been some talk of giving a small refund to every resident, instead lawmakers tailored a plan that targeted more relief at the people who needed it most, with refunds ranging from $70 to $160 for those who earn less than $60,000 a year.

In addition, lawmakers also settled on a food and general excise tax credit that will provide between $25 and $85 per exemption for singles and families who earn less than $50,000 a year.

Lawmakers also focused on affordable housing and homeless solutions, agreeing to spend $25 million in bond money to begin the purchase of the low-income apartment complex Kukui Gardens, adding $29 million to the rental housing trust fund to increase the number of affordable units and another $6 million to help address homeless solutions.

They also once again approved a "Keiki Care" plan that would provide health insurance to children who do not have private coverage and do not qualify for state and federal medical plans.

Of the hundreds of bills that lawmakers considered this session, several had so far fallen by the wayside, including a controversial measure to clamp down on illegal vacation rentals and one that would repeal the Ko Olina and Makaha Tax Credit, perhaps substituting it for a more general tax credit for economic development along the Leeward Coast.

Lawmakers had several of the bills they passed earlier in the session vetoed, including one that drew more than 100 public safety workers — including all the county police chiefs — to the Capitol to urge lawmakers not to override. That bill would have forced the counties to negotiate with public worker unions on transfers, promotions and layoffs of employees. Police, fire and other first responders say it could compromise public safety.

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