Locals look for economic boost from Nevada Legislature

Siobhan McDonough

Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2001 | 6:16 a.m.

CARSON CITY - When state legislators pile into this small Nevada town next month to start making more laws, local business owners figure they'll start making more money.

"It'll be nice to look out the window across the street and see them coming in droves for lunch or dinner," said Ardi Shaw, co-owner of Cafe del Rio, in the historic St. Charles Hotel. "I wish they'd come every year. They give us a boost at a typically slow time."

Now, it's like the calm before a storm that'll last 120 days. By the time the state's 63 legislators and hundreds of lobbyists leave this capital city of about 52,600, they will have flooded the local economy with as much as $7 million, according to Larry Osborne, executive vice president of the Chamber of Commerce.

"They're residents of Carson City for a temporary time. They go to the grocery stores, the beauty shops, barber shops, dry cleaners," Osborne added.

Businesses are stocking up, hiring more employees and getting prepared for longer working hours during one of their busiest times - every two years when the Nevada Legislature meets from early February to early June.

"It's like icing on the cake," Osborne said. "Owners don't plan their businesses around the Legislature since it comes every other year. Otherwise they wouldn't exist."

Many businesses get a boost during the session, but Osborne said restaurants tend to benefit most.

Doug Cramer, owner of Mom & Pop's Diner across the street from the Legislative Building, expects business to jump as much as 25 percent - mostly quick breaks rather than two-hour-long lunches.

"Now that the session is limited at 120 days, we're doing more deliveries to their offices," Cramer said. Sessions used to run nearly two months longer, but a 1997 law change led to four-month sessions starting in 1999.

"It was better before when it wasn't limited to 120 days. There was more stress last session. You couldn't tease them. It was pure business. They'll get the food and get back to where they have to be," he said.

If the lawmakers are more rushed now that their sessions are limited to 120 days, there's also an up side.

"It's a double-edged sword," Osborne said. "It's good that it's limited because that means there's less laws they can enact."

Whether the sessions are longer or shorter, Bud Klette, owner of Art and Antiques, doesn't depend on lawmakers to maintain his business, a short walk from the Legislative Building.

"Every session, a few legislators will come in and buy gift certificates for as much as $250 for their staff members," Klette said. "I'm not saying that they're not very literate - but they don't come in until the end of the session and it's usually to buy gift certificates."

While legislators bring Carson City businesses some extra money, lobbyists operating on expense accounts bring in even more during a traditionally slow time of year. Several hundred advocates register to lobby the lawmakers, and about 200 are in residence for most of the time the Legislature is in session.

The lawmakers and the advocates rent houses or apartments, and many shuttle back and forth to their homes and families on weekends. Some of the lobbyists also rent office space.

"I always look forward to them coming," said Nancy McGee, property manager for Western Horizons Property Management.

This session, McGee has rented several unfurnished, single-family homes to those willing to pay up to $950 per month.

Others in the real estate business don't think it pays to cater to the legislators, lobbyists and staff members.

"It costs too much money for a landlord to put a tenant in for such a short period of time," said DeLacy Perry, who owns a few properties in town. "It's better to get someone in there that'll stay awhile to make it worthwhile."

Likewise, Mia Fernandez's Studio 28 hair and nail salon doesn't depend on lawmakers. Still she looks forward to the every-other-year influx of people involved in the lawmaking process.

"When the legislators come to town they bring in a lot of money," she said.

"But when they go, so does it."