Lawmakers shutting down for the night, resume Saturday

Lawmakers prepared to shut down Friday night as the clock wept past 8 p.m.

Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, said the late night meeting with other legislative leaders and Gov. Jim Gibbons was canceled. She said the plan was to return for an early morning meeting Saturday to finalize a compromise plan that will balance the state budget.

If successful, the 26th special session of the Nevada Legislature could adjourn Saturday, well in advance of the midnight Sunday deadline set by Gibbons.

In part, the night meeting was canceled to give staff time to "crunch the numbers" on the final pieces of the compromise.

Buckley, Assembly Minority Leader Heidi Gansert, R-Reno, Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D-Las Vegas, and Senate Minority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, spent most of Friday behind closed doors with fiscal staff and the governor and, according to all sides, made significant progress toward resolving differences in the plan to handle the $888 million shortfall and balance the budget.