CARSON CITY — Nevada lawmakers struggled to preserve a budget deal Friday as they rushed through a series of bills that would close a projected $275 million deficit and send the Legislature home only hours after convening for a special session.

Legislative leaders in the Democrat-led Assembly and Republican-run Senate said Friday that they had a plan in place to make up for the massive budget shortfall.

"Leaders of both parties of both houses have worked to present a road map for this body for consideration," Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, said as she opened business, calling the budget-cutting ahead, "a sober occasion."

The tentative deal included 3 percent cuts to state agency operating budgets and a $48 million one-year reduction in spending on textbooks, as well as eliminating a series of one-time projects and other smaller saving maneuvers.

Lawmakers and the governor already have slashed the budget by $914 million. After the economy continued to slow and tax revenue dwindled, economic advisers predicted the total shortfall would grow to $1.2 billion.

The proposed 3 percent cuts would free up $106 million, Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio said. Raggio, R-Reno, said there were not "major differences" between the lawmakers' plan and the proposal sketched by the governor in a speech Thursday.

Gov. Jim Gibbons pushed for 4 percent cuts — a savings of nearly $130 million — and said he wanted to preserve textbook funding.

Gibbons spokesman Ben Kieckhefer would not say if the governor would bend on the textbook funding — the primary sticking point.

"Everything is on the table," he said. "He never ruled it out, but we don't like it."

A source involved in the morning negotiations said Gibbons told leaders he would agree to the plan. The source was not authorized to talk about the private discussions and asked not to be identified.

Gibbons was hardly in a strong bargaining position.

His televised speech described the budget passed last session as "excessive" and suggested the Legislature had "over promised." The comments antagonized Raggio, a crucial ally facing a tough re-election battle and sensitive to being seen as a tax and spender.

"My recollection is the governor proposes a spending level in the budget," Raggio told reporters. "The governor did not recommend in his budget any reduction in spending levels."

With the fragile consensus, lawmakers held their breath as they moved through the process of approving the bills and staff rushed to print materials quickly. The Assembly quickly approved several bills with almost no discussion, while the Senate moved more slowly and questioned the cuts more aggressively.

One of the first bills to pass the Assembly showed possible danger signs could be ahead.

The Assembly unanimously approved legislation intended to blunt the effect of a Supreme Court ruling that could force the state to refund more than $100 million in taxes.

The court ruled in March that complimentary meals provided to employees were not subject to "use" taxes. "Comped" meals are standard practice in large casinos on the Las Vegas Strip and several casino companies have petitioned for refunds.

Buckley said the bill to clarify the intent of the law would apply retroactively, thus stripping the gambling companies from being able to recoup those funds.

Not surprisingly, the move found opposition from the powerful gambling lobby.

"As it stands now, we are opposed to AB2," said Robert Uithoven, a lobbyist for Las Vegas Sands Corp. "We believe it places an unfair burden on our properties."