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LINCOLN — For those keeping score, the Nebraska Legislature could balance the state budget and wrap up its special session by Saturday.

That possibility emerged Monday after the Appropriations Committee unanimously advanced a trio of bills that trim the state budget to bridge the projected $334 million deficit in tax receipts.

State lawmakers will begin first-round debate on the budget adjustments this afternoon, which is one day earlier than expected.

If debate moves along as expected, senators could vote on final approval of the spending adjustments Friday or Saturday.

“We’d really be cooking to get done by Friday,” said Speaker of the Legislature Mike Flood of Norfolk.

After legislative approval, Gov. Dave Heineman would have to sign the budget package into law, or he could veto parts of the bill. Any vetoes would require the Legislature to meet again to consider whether to override them before adjourning.

It’s unclear whether the governor would veto anything or how much debate the budget package will generate among senators.

Several senators have said that most of the controversial measures of the special session have been worked out, citing the removal of a raid on commodity checkoff funds, a softening of the cuts to the state court system and a plan to reduce state aid to schools by $32 million.

There could be a fight over state aid to municipalities, according to Omaha Sen. Heath Mello. That aid has been a repeated target for cuts in previous lean budget years.

The budget package advanced by the Appropriations Committee is similar to the one proposed by Gov. Dave Heineman, who had proposed tapping the checkoff funds and making deeper cuts in court spending.

Legislative Bills 1, 2 and 3, which jointly cover the committee’s amended version of the governor’s plan, make about $336 million worth of changes in the state budget. They contain no tax increases and leave the state’s cash reserve fund untouched. They tap some other cash funds and spread the budget cuts across virtually all state agencies.

The special session, which began Nov. 4, is expected to cost about $10,000 a day, or about $120,000 if it ends Friday.

Earlier Monday, state officials received good news about one budget area: the state’s pension plans.

Dave Slishinsky with Buck Consultants said a new actuarial study shows that because of the stock market’s recovery, the state does not have to add money to the school employees or judges pension plans. A $1.8 million addition is needed for the State Patrol plan, he said.

That means $20 million that had been budgeted to bolster state retirement plans won’t have to be spent. The saved money is part of the cuts proposed by the governor and Legislature in the special session.

Paul Hammel and Martha Stoddard report for the Omaha World-Herald.