Yes, laws are important. But what happened to the Caucus Deli?!
CARSON CITY — The 2023 Legislature is off to its usual languid start, with committees getting informational briefings, holding short floor sessions and passing few pieces of legislation.
As a result, the talk in the legislative building centers on more mundane, parochial matters. Chief among them: What happened to the Caucus Deli?
The humble little food spot on the first floor of the legislative building offered breakfast and lunch, soft drinks and sandwiches, and at one time the largest potatoes ever seen outside of Idaho. Coffee was a popular order, too. Even better, it offered tables and seating, which lobbyists, members of the public and reporters often used to eat, work and socialize, all while staying close to work.
But this session, the Caucus Deli is gone, the former space walled off as construction continues on a new research library that will permanently replace the eatery.
Instead, people who work inside the legislative building have been offered the services of various food trucks parked in the capital courtyard, just a short but snowy walk outside. On Wednesday, the lone food truck’s menu offerings centered around a primarily tater tot-based theme.
Some building explorers discovered there are some vending machines scattered in various locations throughout the building, with all the culinary appeal that you’d expect.
The situation is compounded by the fact that the closest coffee spot — the venerable Comma Coffee directly across the street from the legislative building — was recently closed down due to a reported mice infestation. It’s reopened now, but the former crowds have not returned.
Slightly farther away, but still close, are The Fox Brewery and Pub and Pop’s, well-established Carson Street institutions that see a big spike in business when the captive legislative audience shows up every other year.
Before the battles over legislation begin in earnest, the bright minds in the lobbying corps are abuzz with ideas: Perhaps the large third-floor multipurpose room that looks onto Carson Street could become a new cafeteria? Maybe a petition to request a new location for an in-building dining spot? Couldn’t they put in a Starbucks kiosk, at least?
And it’s not just the missing deli and a place to sit, outside the cramped confines of the lobbyist room (or the even more cramped confine of the press room). There’s some other unwelcome changes as well.
For example, members of the lobbying corps and the press are now banned from the rear of the Senate chambers, a narrow space separated from lawmakers by a glass wall that at times of high drama on the floor could be standing room only. Instead, all visitors who want to observe Senate proceedings must traipse to the second-floor gallery that overlooks the floor but offers limited views of the lawmakers themselves.
For ordinary proceedings, it’s an inconvenience. But what happens when Senate committees meet “behind the bar,” a practice in which members gather at the side or rear of the chamber to hear last-minute amendments and even take votes? If lobbyists, the press and the public are sequestered upstairs, they can’t hear what’s happening in those sometimes-critical meetings, and may only learn the results when the agreed-upon changes are already voted on and approved.
Over in the Assembly, people still enjoy access to the rear of the chamber. There are even desks for the press to do their work. But in the upper house, things have changed.
It’s certainly not the most important topic, but definitely one that those who work in the building are discussing over coffee. If there was a convenient place to buy coffee, that is.
Contact Steve Sebelius at SSebelius@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0253. Follow @SteveSebelius on Twitter.