The subcommittee considered a budget change proposal to add three permanent positions and $566,000 ongoing general fund to support the CalKids program, California's statewide automatic college‑savings initiative administered by the ScholarShare Investment Board.

Program background and scale
Cassandra de Benedetto, Executive Director of the ScholarShare Investment Board, told the committee that CalKids was launched in 2022 and now enrolls more than 5 million children ("over 1,100,000 newborns and nearly 4,000,000 public school students") and that “nearly 600,000 students and families have claimed their Cal Kids scholarship.” She said the board has distributed more than $45 million to roughly 86,000 college‑aged students, with about $41 million going to UC, CSU and community colleges in California.

Staffing proposal and LAO view
Amin Singh of the Department of Finance presented the governor's request for three permanent positions and ongoing funding. Natalie Gonzalez of the Legislative Analyst's Office recommended approval of the two nonsupervisory positions to address workload in customer service, outreach and data management, but urged rejecting the proposed manager position for now. Gonzalez said ScholarShare is already spending $7.5 million on a two‑year paid marketing contract and the LAO recommended revisiting the need for a manager after the marketing campaign's results are analyzed: “We recommend rejecting the manager position at this time.”

Outreach and data sharing
ScholarShare described outreach underway, including a paid media campaign, community events, partnerships with CalWORKs and Covered California, and a texting pilot with Riverside County that produced a marked increase in website traffic. De Benedetto said the board is implementing AB 2508 (which modifies eligibility and outreach), and that additional staff would be needed to implement that statutory change and support data‑management work and partnerships such as a planned data‑sharing arrangement with Cradle to Career and the California Student Aid Commission.

Committee reaction and next steps
Members expressed interest in the Riverside pilot and asked ScholarShare to share metrics linking marketing and outreach to claims. The LAO asked ScholarShare to reassess whether a managerial marketing position is necessary after current paid campaigns conclude. The committee held the item open for follow up and additional documentation on outreach outcomes and data‑sharing agreements.