Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders launched theMyArkansas app Thursday, Oct. 8, at the state revenue office in Springdale. The app puts more than 50 state services in one place, including car tag renewals, state park bookings and hunting licenses. It was developed in partnership with Login.gov and is available on the Apple App Store and Google Play. Springdale was the 25th Capital for a Day of Sanders’ tenure. During the visit she also named Springdale special education teacher Lindsay Rankin the 2027 Arkansas Teacher of the Year.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders made her way across Springdale on Thursday as the Northwest Arkansas city was named the state’s capital for a day. Ozarks at Large’s Daniel Caruth joined for some of the tour stops and brings us this report.
“It is great to be here. Great to be in Springdale to celebrate this city as Arkansas’ capital for the day. I want to give a special thank you to Secretary Jim Hudson and the entire team.”
During her nearly 24 hours in Springdale on Thursday, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders visited several landmark locations from Bernice Young Elementary to Tyson Foods and the renovated AQ Chicken House restaurant. The governor has been making the rounds across the state. This is the 25th remote capital of her tenure to visit constituents and launch new initiatives.
From a podium tucked into the waiting room of the state revenue office off of Springdale Avenue, she announced a new app to make accessing government services easier for Arkansans.
“Everyone who engages with state government knows that it can sometimes be a confusing and complicated process. But Arkansans don’t have time to learn all the ins and outs of state government, and frankly, they shouldn’t have to. That’s why today, we are proud to announce the launch of theMyArkansas app.
“This new mobile app, now available on the Apple App Store and Google Play, puts more than 50 state services in the palm of your hand. I’ve tried it out myself. It’s simple, streamlined and easy to use. For the first time ever, you can renew your car tags, book a stay at a state park or purchase a hunting license all in one location.
“It also offers the ability to give you key alerts on things like emergency preparedness in the event of a disaster, tax deadlines and license renewals, and benefits eligibility.”
Sanders was joined by Jim Hudson, secretary of the Department of Finance and Administration, to roll out the online service, which he says is already up and running.
“But we are not finished. As soon as we get done today with the official launch, we’re going to immediately start on release version two. Scoping that out and figure out what we’re going to add next. This will be a continual process of looking at state services and figure out what can we put in the app to make things easy for you.”
The all-in-one portal allows users to check revenue office wait times, set up appointments, request vital records and apply for Education Freedom Accounts. Hudson says data will not be shared with a third party, and the app was developed in partnership with Login.gov for security.
“For DFA particularly, we handle some of the most confidential information that a citizen has, which is their tax information. So we’re already very experienced in having good, strong privacy and IT security protocols.
“We’re using Login.gov, which for example, if you’ve ever gone to the Social Security Administration to verify your Social Security account and your earnings with Social Security Administration, they use Login.gov. So it’s a very credible, reliable service and they will verify your identity. Let us know you are who you say you are and then that will let us know to complete the transaction with you.”
And he says Sanders was actually involved in helping to test out the new app.
“A new generation leader. So she’s the youngest governor in the nation. Again, she’s a working mom. I think she brings a real good lens to things like technology. She’s also a communications pro. And so she understands what it’s like to optimize technology to make it easy to use.
“She was our No. 1 person just to kind of grade it out and tell us, ‘Make this better, make that better.’ So she was, I would say she’s our chief design officer.”
And for her part, Sanders says these tours are vital to hearing from Arkansans and informing these kinds of policy decisions, no matter how seemingly small.
“One of those interactions happened during a trip to a revenue office early in my tenure as governor. Apparently, there had been a longstanding rule that required women working in revenue offices to wear high heels. It’s pretty archaic, especially for employees who spend most of their day on their feet.
“During a visit to a revenue office in Mountain Home, Secretary Hudson asked those employees how we could make their jobs easier. There’s a little hesitation and a little delay on engaging, but ultimately, one of the women working there piped up and said, ‘It would be great if we didn’t have to wear heels to work every day.’
“I signed off immediately, and now women at all 134 revenue offices in the state can wear flats if they want to.”
During the rest of the governor’s tour, she named Springdale special education teacher Lindsay Rankin as the 2027 Arkansas Teacher of the Year, toured Sharp Sand and Gravel Quarry, met with Tyson Foods Inc. officials and visited the GoodLife Innovations care facility. For Ozarks at Large, I’m Daniel Caruth.
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