"A law that allowed the sharing of limitless amounts of personal data across the state to find people eligible for CalFresh was rescinded this week. On Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 593 by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, a Democrat from Oakland, that forbids state and local departments from sharing sensitive personal data to increase food stamp enrollment. RELATED: Gov. Newsom signs 'Safe Schools Act' taking unprecedented action against ICE in schools But only a year ago, it was Wicks who introduced that same data sharing initiative, to get more people enrolled in CalFresh, the state's federally funded food assistance program."
"CalFresh is funded by the federal government, run by the state Department of Social Services and administered locally. Over 1 in 5 Californians are food insecure. About 5 million Californians are CalFresh recipients, and the state estimates almost 2 million more are eligible and haven't signed up. Around 200,000 college students in California receive CalFresh, according to the California Department of Social Services. All recipients must complete an application process many consider time-consuming and confusing."
Assembly Bill 593, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, prohibits state and local departments from sharing sensitive personal data to boost CalFresh enrollment. A prior bill would have allowed public entities to override state privacy laws to share limitless data to identify potential CalFresh recipients. CalFresh is federally funded, state-run, and locally administered; about 5 million Californians receive benefits while nearly 2 million more are estimated eligible. Over one in five Californians face food insecurity. Many student applicants face confusing, time-consuming applications and high denial rates when they cannot prove eligibility. The bill sponsor changed strategy in July.
Read at The Mercury News
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