COLUMBIA, S.C. - Legislators made quick work Tuesday of 11 vetoes from the governor, overriding eight, letting two stand and deferring action on one until they return in January.

It's the first time in three years that the Legislature has come back in a special session.

Initially, the General Assembly passed a resolution to return on June 14 because the House thought it would need to elect a speaker. But that was taken care of June 2, when Rep. Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, emerged as the only candidate to replace David Wilkins, who becomes U.S. ambassador to Canada on June 21.

Also Tuesday, Harrell resigned his chairmanship of the Ways and Means Committee, which elected Rep. Dan Cooper, R-Piedmont, as his replacement.

"It's a big job, it's tough. I'm scared to death," Cooper said. "I've got some big shoes to fill."

As chairman of the budget-writing committee, Cooper also gets a seat on the Budget and Control Board, a five-man panel that oversees billions of dollars in state spending and borrowing decisions.

Cooper has been a critic of fellow Republican Gov. Mark Sanford, the board's chairman, and Sanford's office has criticized Cooper for his spending priorities.

Sanford was in Paris on Tuesday courting economic development projects and didn't see lawmakers sustain just two of his vetoes.

The House let die a bill intended to cut down road rage by allowing state troopers to stop drivers who poke along in the left lane on interstate highways.

But legislators bucked Sanford's wishes in other areas, including letting Bob Jones University students be eligible for Palmetto Fellows Scholarships and restricting the sale of novelty contact lenses.

Bob Jones' students previously were ineligible for the $6,700 yearly scholarships for the state's brightest students because the Christian fundamentalist school is not accredited. It is seeking accreditation. The legislation also lets children of military personnel, who paid income tax in South Carolina during the majority of their career, become eligible for the $5,000 LIFE Scholarship.

The other bill says contact lenses can be dispensed only with a prescription from a licensed optometrist or ophthalmologist.

Both of those now become state law.

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Associated Press writer Jennifer Holland contributed to this story.