CalFresh: data sharing.

Assembly Member Wicks advances a measure that ties CalFresh administration to a retooled data-sharing framework, directing the Department of Social Services to identify data-sharing opportunities with other state and local public entities and any other unit of state government to support CalFresh administration, participation, impact measurement, and access to related public health and poverty-alleviating services. The opening emphasis is on enabling intergovernmental data collaboration to advance CalFresh-related objectives, with the program CalFresh defined as California’s implementation of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

The core change rewrites Section 18901.59 to replace an explicit authorization for public entities to share data with the department for CalFresh purposes with a new authority for the department to identify data-sharing opportunities with other public bodies. The amendment also adds a governance requirement: the department must designate an executive-level employee who reports to the Director of Social Services on the implementation of this section and on Section 18901.58. The legislation does not include an explicit appropriation, though the Fiscal Committee is listed as having a fiscal impact, and no deadlines for action are stated in the text.

Operationally, the bill signals a shift toward interagency data-sharing arrangements that would need to be created or formalized through agreements or regulations, as the statute does not specify data elements, sharing mechanisms, or privacy safeguards. The executive-level reporting obligation establishes oversight, but it does not prescribe timelines. The absence of the prior federal-law qualifier in the amended text introduces potential ambiguity about the applicability of federal data-sharing constraints, even as federal requirements governing CalFresh data remain in force in practice. Enforcement mechanisms are not defined within the statute; compliance would rely on existing interagency processes and confidentiality provisions.

Contextually, the measure situates CalFresh within a broader intergovernmental data ecosystem, aiming to improve administration, participation, impact measurement, and access to related services without creating new funding in the statute. Implementation would depend on forthcoming implementing guidance, interagency agreements, and any related budgetary actions, with attention to how data-sharing would align with state and federal privacy protections and data-use limitations. Stakeholders include the department, local county welfare agencies, other state units, and privacy advocates, all watching for how interagency collaboration would be governed, what data could be shared, and how such exchanges would be supervised in practice.