The bill would add certain street foods to the list of homemade food products that are sold and prepared outside of a commercial kitchen. The list includes corn on the cob, aguas frescas, or fresh cut fruit—street foods popular in Mexico and Latin America.
This would exclude these foods and others from having to meet current health district requirements that usually apply to perishable food. It would also simplify the application process that passed with the 2023 law decriminalizing sidewalk vending in Nevada creating a path to licensure.
Assemblymember and sponsor, Fabian Doñate, said this new bill would strengthen his 2023 law and is the next step in vendor’s legal licensure, not a consequence of that law.
“To say that this is an unintended consequence of what we passed in SB92 — it's just not true,” said Doñate. “We have always known from the very beginning, from when we passed SB92 in 2023 — that was just the first step and we were gonna come back and make modifications based on how we saw the market evolve.”
SB92 was the first in the state establishing a process for street vendors to get proper licenses to be able to sell without being penalized.
But since its enactment, only 13 sidewalk vendors have completed the license procedure out of an estimated 300 in Nevada, according to the Southern Nevada Health District.
Despite the low number Doñate stays optimistic.
“Those are 13 new businesses contributing to our economy, collecting taxes and being equipped with the resources,” he said. “Those 13 businesses would not have existed if it weren't for SB92 passing.”
Doñate said the shortfall of applicants can be attributed to the unexpected challenges brought by the 2023 law — including the difficult application steps and high fees for permits, commissary kitchens, and approved carts.
Those permit fees could cost up to $20,000 for the application process alone which is not feasible for certain street cart vendors.
“ Many of these street food vendors are probably making anywhere from $500 to $1,000 a week — that's if they're lucky,” Doñate said. “If we were to implement this bill, now we're lowering the standard in terms of what it would take to start this business. And so we're looking at a cost of around $3,000 just to start out, and that's $700 for continuing costs.”
Vendors will still need to to meet county imposed requirements like specific business licensing or zoning requirements.
“ We're only looking at the health district permitting process,”Doñate said . “I agree with the time, place and manner requirements that have been imposed because it's an orderly way to ensure that all businesses are treated safely.”
Doñate said that SB295 would make it equitable compared to the revenue model of these targeted vendors.
“ If we truly say that we're for small businesses, then this is an example of one,” Doñate said. “There has to be a measure or a metric in terms of the hurdles that we make people go through. But if we want businesses to succeed, we have to look at the requirements that we make them start with.”
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