The Gavel
In pilot
A legislator's whole day at the Capitol on one page, for members and the staff who run their days.
Explore The GavelAbout the lab
A lab with one mission.
StateGov builds small apps that put government within reach. Each app does one job for one kind of person, and every fact in it comes from the public record.
The mission
Government is public. It should also be reachable.
Bills, agendas, votes and hearing video are already published. They are just hard to use from where most people sit. We put them in order, for one job at a time.
front of the notebook
How the lab works.
Three rules we hold every app to.
- 01
From the record
Every fact traces back to the bill, the agenda or the video. We report what happened and take no side.
- 02
One job per app
We find one person and one hard job, build for that, and get out of the way. A new job gets a new app.
- 03
Tested in Arkansas
We sit in the same hearings you do. Every app proves itself here first, then goes to any public body that wants the same thing.
on the bench
Three apps, three stages.
Each one is at a different point. We say which, plainly.
The Whip
In build
One shared vote-count board per bill, for lobbying teams working the Legislature.
Explore The WhipThe Docket
In design · Russellville first
What your city council, quorum court, school board and the state are deciding, by zip code. Free.
Explore The Docket
how an app starts
From a hearing room to an app.
- 01
Sit in the room
We go to the hearings and meetings and watch how people actually work.
- 02
Find one hard job
One person, one job that the public record should make easier and doesn't.
- 03
Build the smallest app
Just enough to do that job well, built on the record and nothing else.
- 04
Earn its place here
It has to work in Arkansas first. Then any public body can use it.
field guides
The notebook, open to everyone.
What we learn building the apps goes into free, sourced guides.
- LegislatureThe Arkansas Legislature, explainedA plain-English guide to the Arkansas General Assembly: session dates, how bills move, key terms, hearing video, and lobbyist rules.Read the guide
- CompareArkansas legislative tracking tools, comparedStateGov, USLege, FastDemocracy and the Legislature's free bill tracking compared for Arkansas: coverage, hearing video, whip counts and prices.Read the guide
- Who it is forWho StateGov is forStateGov builds small apps for the people who follow Arkansas government: lobbying teams, legislators and their staff, and residents who want to show up.Read the guide
- LegislatureArkansas legislative glossaryPlain-English definitions of Arkansas legislative terms: ALC, JBC, BLR, engrossed, do pass, sine die, fiscal session, quorum court, and more.Read the guide
The next oneyour idea here
The next one.
Is there a part of government that is hard to reach from where you sit? That is how every app here started. Tell us about it.
Pitch the labMade in Arkansas.
StateGov is built by Natural State Intelligence. If you work in or around government here, we'd like to show you what's on the bench.
Or write tal@naturalstateintel.com