By John Lyon
Arkansas News Bureau
LITTLE ROCK — The sponsor of a bill to bring back Arkansas’ longtime “Land of Opportunity” nickname said today the change would position the state not only as a vacation destination but a place for families and businesses to grow and prosper.
Freshman Rep. David Sanders, R-Little Rock, presented, but temporarily withdrew, House Bill 1005 to change “The Natural State” nickname Arkansas has held since abandoning “The Land of Opportunity” in 1995. Before that, the old nickname had been in place since 1953.
“’The Land of Opportunity’ simply acknowledges all that is good and great about our state,” Sanders told the House Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs.
He said the change would have no fiscal impact because it did not require changes to state license plates or any other materials.
But he temporarily pulled the bill from consideration after Rep. Tracy Pennartz, D-Fort Smith, insisted she wanted to see in writing what fiscal impact the change would have. Sanders said he would get a statement from state finance officers and bring the bill back to the committee.
Rep. Jim Nickels, D-Sherwood, asked Sanders if he would be willing to amend the bill to state that Arkansas would “also be known as The Land of Opportunity.” Sanders said he would consider it.
Skip Rutherford, dean of the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service, spoke for the bill, saying “The Land of Opportunity” is broader in scope than “The Natural State.” He named some notable people who made much of the opportunities they found in Arkansas, such as Bill Clinton and Mike Huckabee.
Richard Davies, director of the state Department of Parks and Tourism, spoke against the bill, saying the current nickname has proven popular and that to relegate it to a tourism slogan only and change the official nickname, or to have two nicknames, would give the state “a split personality.”
Davies said he also was concerned that although the law does not mandate changing any state materials, someday someone may ask, “Why don’t you?”
