It's been two years since Nevada legalized street vending, but the paltry number of vendors who have successfully obtained a license suggests the path to establishing a legal business remains more trouble than it’s worth for vendors marred by high fees and burdensome licensing requirements.

But two new proposals in the Legislature could help change that.

AB180, sponsored by Assm. Reuben D’Silva (D-North Las Vegas), seeks to streamline the licensing process, while SB295, sponsored by Sen. Fabian Doñate (D-Las Vegas), addresses public health regulations that can create often prohibitive startup costs for some sellers.

Lawmakers say that the bills aim to address some of the challenges that have arisen since the passage of SB92 in 2023. That bill created pathways for street vendors to operate legally in Nevada, but left it up to local governments to implement specific rules, creating a hodgepodge of regulations that made it difficult for many mobile street vendors — who move around from jurisdiction to jurisdiction — to actually abide by.

“These regulations have merit, and standardization is essential to ensuring that Nevada is consuming safe food and that vendors are properly accounted for,” Doñate said during a Tuesday hearing. “However, the financial and bureaucratic burdens only discourage well meaning vendors from participating in the process altogether.”

The numbers back him up. As of this month, the City of Las Vegas has only one active street vendor license, and in Clark County, only six street vendors have approved business licenses.

Proponents say the bills could significantly boost Nevada’s immigrant community, many of whom turn to street vending for economic advancement and use it as a launchpad to start larger businesses, such as restaurants.

“There are all these attacks that undocumented people don't pay taxes, don't participate in the economy — this is a straight refutation of that,” D’Silva told The Nevada Independent in an interview. “There's a sense of legitimacy that comes along with these licensing processes.”

Balancing public health with high costs

Doñate’s bill would exempt street vendors who sell cottage foods — “non-hazardous” foods that don’t require refrigeration, such as chips or cookies — from certain food establishment regulations in Clark and Washoe counties. 

To be designated as a cottage food operation under existing law, vendors must earn less than $35,000 per year and typically prepare that food at home, although Doñate’s bill would allow them to be prepared on the cart.

Doñate contends that many of the requirements from public health boards are not only unnecessary but burdensome. A cart that meets the standards of the Southern Nevada Health District (SNHD), for example, can cost upward of $10,000 and must have running water and restaurant-grade equipment, which he said is unnecessary to safely store most of the foods offered by vendors. 

Without those requirements in place, sellers would spend much less on licenses and supplies.

Already, the price tag for acquiring a license can be hefty, especially for the typically low-wage profession of street vending. In Clark County, licensing fees are a minimum of $1,500, including an approximately $850 first-time fee from SNHD. The city of Reno requires a state business license, which costs $200 dollars, in addition to a local license which, as of 2023, can be upwards of $700. 

“Some of us have had to choose between paying the rent or paying these fees,” Bertine Gonzalez, a street vendor in Las Vegas, said through a translator during the bill’s Tuesday hearing. 

Nevada’s street vending laws are also significantly stricter than other many states, such as New York, only allowing a limited list of items to be sold legally including cookies and dried herbs. SB295 would expand that list to include culturally significant foods such as chicharones — fried pork rinds — and aguas frescas.

The SNHD and Northern Nevada Public Health (NNPH) opposed the bill at a hearing on Tuesday, raising concerns that loosening food safety regulations — especially those around temperature control, hand washing and equipment requirements — puts the community at risk.

“Instead of lowering food safety standards, we should continue supporting vendors through structured permitting processes,” said Joelle Gutman Dodson, government affairs liaison for Northern Nevada Public Health.

To that extent, NNPH has implemented a permit fee payment plan, which it contends could mitigate concerns around high fees. They also provide technical assistance, educational materials, and step-by-step guidance to help vendors comply with food safety standards.

Similarly, SNHD said it “actively supports the sidewalk vending community through ongoing efforts” such as Spanish-language consultations and also implementing permit fee payment plans. Between July 2023 and March 2025, SNHD said it has permitted 13 vendors.

SB295 would also require local health boards to adopt detailed regulations covering the types of equipment and carts sidewalk vendors can use. 

On top of standardizing public health rules, Doñate says that this would prevent vendors from mistakenly purchasing the wrong equipment. 

A byzantine licensing process 

AB180, set to be heard this Friday, would require Clark County to enter into multijurisdictional licensing agreements with cities within the county such as Las Vegas and Henderson. It would also expand the definition of street vendors to include those selling merchandise, such as trinkets or fashion accessories, and not just food. 

Currently, street vendors are required to be licensed in each of the jurisdictions they operate in. That means if a vendor wants to move their cart from Las Vegas to Chinatown in unincorporated Clark County, they would need a separate license to legally operate, requiring more fees and leading to potential confusion.

“As we become more interconnected, larger and more dynamic in the Southern Nevada community, I think we should be open to ideas like having multijurisdictional licensing processes,” D’Silva said in an interview.

AB180 already has faced significant pushback, with many jurisdictions in Southern Nevada expressing concerns about how the proposed licensing process could jeopardize proceeds from licensing fees.

Given that, he thinks that the bill's passage will be an “upwards battle.” 

Already, D'Silva plans to make multiple amendments, including slashing a provision that would have allowed sidewalk vendors to operate near parks without restriction. That section could have had profound impacts for vendors in Clark County who, per an April 2024 ordinance, are banned from operating within 500 feet of any county park without a special permit. 

Clark County staff has previously said that those rules were put in place to align with how other businesses are regulated in parks. In Las Vegas, licensed street vendors are allowed to operate across the street of a city park.  

The bill would have also required Washoe County to enter in multijurisdiction agreements with cities within the county, but also will be amended out, according to D’Silva. 

Vendors will also continue to remain barred from operating within 1,500 feet of a resort hotel or or facility that can seat at least 20,000 people.