Tomorrow is Day 54 of the session; there are six days remaining.

Tax relief is still up in the air as lawmakers working on the budget get closer to closure on the state's finances and try to figure out how much can be returned to taxpayers.

One of the big questions is whether the money needed for emergency storm damage will cut into meaningful tax relief. Raising the standard income tax deduction and a tax credit for the working poor looked as if they had the best chances, but lawmakers are now also considering whether to expand income tax brackets to spare more people from paying higher tax rates.

The members of the financial committees weren't the only ones busy last week, though. Select House and Senate members were named to conference committees and began negotiating on a number of bills.

The committee members have until Thursday to get nonfiscal bills on their colleagues' desks for the mandatory 48-hour rest before the final vote day, May 2. The deadline for fiscal bills is Friday.

Many of the bills will be worked on in conference until the 11th hour, but some have already moved further, including one that would ban secondhand smoke in most work and public places that are enclosed by at least a roof and two walls.

This week will be especially busy as conferees try to work out their differences on some of the most important legislation of the session.

In addition, tomorrow is the deadline for concurrent resolutions. One under consideration would ask for testing of bacteria levels in the sand where heavy rains and sewage spills forced beach closures. Currently, only the ocean water is tested and not the sand, which could still harbor bacteria that could cause illness and infection.

Another resolution would appoint a special deputy to investigate the Kaloko dam failure on Kaua'i.

KEY ISSUES

Bills that have fiscal impact - including the key bills The Advertiser has been tracking - are on hold until the financial committees close the budget and figure out how much money is left over for new initiatives. That could happen as early as today.

Here are some of the issues that conferees are discussing:

Education: Some of the big issues are repair and maintenance at the public schools and the University of Hawai'i, charter school funding and a developing model curriculum for public schools.

Energy: The gas cap negotiations have begun. A conference committee will also finalize a bill that would encourage the use of renewable energy resources through tax incentives and pilot programs.

Affordable housing: By the middle of the week, it should be clear how much money lawmakers want to dedicate to building affordable homes and serving the homeless.

OTHER KEY ACTION

Constitutional amendments: Friday marked the deadline for constitutional amendments. Three that passed through the Senate would: