Wednesday, March 1, 2023 | 2 a.m.
CARSON CITY — Nevada’s capital city may have come to a standstill this week amid a series of snowstorms, but that didn’t stop lawmakers from working on an array of issues while they wait for the legislative session to resume.
Those who commute to Carson City were relegated to shoveling snow, while others used the time to catch up on emails and reschedule meetings with constituents and stakeholders.
“Well, to be honest, on the first day I slept in until about noon and decided to catch up on a little bit of sleep and then I came into the office for a little bit,” Sen. Dallas Harris, D-Las Vegas, told the Sun in a phone call Tuesday. “The snow is coming down and we’ve made sure people can stay home to be safe, but the work doesn’t stop.”
Others, like Sen. Robin Titus, R-Wellington, was clearing the snow in preparation for today’s commute, which for Titus is roughly an hour.
“Moving snow with a shovel and tractor,” Titus told the Sun in a text message. “Then (I’m) coming in and returning emails and phone calls.”
Feb. 4, 1989, marked the last time the Legislature was closed due to snow, according to an archived article from the Reno Gazette-Journal, when then-Gov. Bob Miller sent most state workers home to avid snow “falling at a rate of about 1 inch per hour,” according to the archived article.
On Monday, Gov. Joe Lombardo announced the closure of state offices across Carson City and Washoe, Storey, Douglas and Lyon counties, citing a winter storm that swept through the area. That closure was extended through Tuesday, with a winter storm warning from the National Weather Service set to expire at 4 a.m. Wednesday, only after the area received anywhere from 3 to 10 inches of snow.
Albeit inconvenient, Titus said there was some upside to the snow dump.
“We welcome the snow,” Titus said. “(We) need to recharge our aquifer and fill up our reservoirs.”
Even with the glut of snow, some lawmakers from Southern Nevada were still willing to work face-to-face.
“I have four-wheel drive and snow tires,” Assemblyman Greg Hafen, R-Pahrump, said. “I offered to some of the legislators to pick them up if they are snowed in, especially those staying in the Washoe Valley.”
To Hafen’s surprise, nobody took the offer, he said. So instead, he worked on bill drafts and prepared for upcoming bill hearings.
Hafen said lawmakers will likely have to work later in the coming days to make up for the lost time. Though no official word has come to determine how that time will be made up.
Mindy Pressman, spokeswoman for the Nevada Senate Democratic Caucus, said in a text message while nothing has been officially rescheduled as of yet, lawmakers will have to make it up in one form or another.
“My understanding is there is enough room in the rest of the calendar to accommodate,” Pressman said. “However it has to happen.”
