Carson City businesses feel strain of COVID restrictions this 2021 legislative session

New statewide COVID-19 restrictions issued by Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak on Nov. 24, 2020 decreased restaurant and bar capacities to a 25 percent capacity both inside casinos as well as for independent businesses. In addition, no walk-in customers are permitted into food and drink establishments but instead, a reservation must be made beforehand.

Feb. 1 brought the start of a new legislative session in Nevada, which brings in legislators, lobbyists, aides, and other travelers into Carson City every biennial year to do business. Any normal year, without COVID-19 guidelines looming overhead, this would bring a boom of business to the capital city in the form of restaurant and bar-goers, as well as hotel reservations.

This year, however, the pandemic has made doing simple things like going out to eat and booking a hotel room more difficult than in past session years.

Ronni Hannaman, Executive Director of the Carson City Chamber of Commerce, said the downtown is usually full of business suits during the lunch hour this time of year, but COVID has put a halt to that.

“This is not business as usual in a normal legislative session,” Hannaman said. “We are not seeing the amount of traffic in restaurants, they’re 25 percent anyway, but you’re not seeing (legislators) downtown, and the hotels are not full.”

Hannaman said legislators and their staff are the only people allowed inside of the Legislature building, whereas lobbyists and other interest groups who normally gather inside of the front lobby are now considered a part of the public, and therefore restricted from entering. Committee meetings are being held virtually.

“Normally this time of year, when the legislature is in session, my gosh the whole first floor is packed,” Hannaman said. “With not only legislators and lobbyists but then you’ve got school groups, non-profits who set up tables to let people know what they do. There’s nothing. It’s just really odd, it doesn't even feel as though the legislature is in town.”

Local businesses, especially in the downtown area, are strained performing regular daily work with the pandemic still pending closure. Restaurants and bars across Carson Street from the legislative buildings are usually full of foot traffic this time every two years, being that most out-of-towners from Las Vegas eat out most meals, according to Hannaman.

“It’s a big impact,” said Mike Riggs, President of the Carson City Downtown Business Association. “Particularly in the restaurants and bars, they see the biggest influx.”

Riggs said with the uncertain times, it can be hard for businesses to staff accordingly, which all really depends on the Governor's restrictions. However, businesses are prepared as they can be with legislators coming into town to do business, not only in their own work, but with restaurants, bars, and hotels.

“The legislators, when they’re in town, they book rooms, so the hotels didn’t get to capitalize on that,” Riggs said. “The hotel properties get to see a shot in the arm. It has a big economic impact, and not just for the downtown, but for the city as a whole.”

July 2020 brought the opening of Piazza, a wine, cocktails and small platter eatery located on the edge of the Bob McFadden Plaza, directly across from the Legislative building. Owners Mark and Jenny Lopiccolo opened the establishment during the 50 percent capacity restrictions, and later had to close shop in November after 25 percent restrictions were put into place.

“The 25 percent restriction, I don’t see how any restaurant could make it with the high costs associated with restaurants,” Jenny Lopiccolo said. “Restaurant businesses do not have large profit margins and so every dollar that comes off the top, is going to come off your bottom.”

Piazza reopened January 15 in anticipation of the new legislative session. As newcomers to the boom of sales these sessions bring to downtown businesses, Lopiccolo said reopening just made sense. Unfortunately, the spirits joint has not seen much legislative traffic into their doors.

“Our customers were very vocal about us opening back up, so we went ahead and opened for those reasons,” Lopiccolo said. “We’re hoping the 25 percent will go to the 50 percent in the near future, but I don’t know when that will be.”

The Nevada Lobbying Disclosure Act, known simply as the Lobbying Act, was amended in 2015 to prohibit a lobbyist from “knowingly or willfully giving any gift, including the cost of entertainment, food or beverages, to a Legislator, a member of his or her immediate family or a member of legislative staff, regardless of the value of the gift” (NRS 218H.930).

Before this change, the act allowed lobbyists to give legislators, their immediate family, or members of their staff gifts not exceeding 100 dollars, according to NRS 218H.930 (2013). Additionally, food and entertainment were excluded from the definition of “gift”, giving lobbyists the freedom to spend as much as they wanted on these items for legislators (NRS 218H.060 (2013).

“It really hurt the city a lot because (lobbyists and legislators) just don’t go out as much anymore,” Hannaman said about the spending cap. “We don’t have the (legislative) events that we did in the past. Even though it’s wonderful to have them here, it’s not the same as it was.”

With restaurant and bar capacity restrictions, establishments are filling up fast with reservations despite the lack of legislator activity in town for a session. Locals are eating out less too because of restrictions, and businesses have learned to pivot and make their situation work.

“With 25 percent, it doesn't make sense for us to be open,” Lopiccolo said, “but we have a great team and they all wanted to get back to work.”

The pandemic has put a halt to normal functioning operations in many businesses around Carson City, both in the downtown and outskirts. Hannaman said because of restrictions, it’s hard to get any customers seated in a restaurant or bar, so the legislative session is not going to put any “major blips” in business transactions.

“We’re happy to have the legislature in town,” Hannaman said. “However, because of COVID situations, they’re not able to get out and enjoy the community and spend in the community as they have in the past.”