Senate subcommittee hears CDFA budget requests for cybersecurity, new Turlock lab operations and Farm to School expansion

Arma Cozina, deputy secretary for administration and finance at the California Department of Food and Agriculture, briefed Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 4 on the department's proposed 2025–26 budget and several budget change proposals.

CDFA told the subcommittee the governor's budget proposes about $775 million and 2,075.2 positions for the department, funded from a mix of general fund, industry assessments, federal, bond and other funds. CDFA said federal funds are roughly 20% of its budget and that federal cooperative agreements—primarily with USDA and FDA—fund much of produce safety work.

Why it matters: the requests touch public health, agricultural emergency response capacity and climate programs that affect schools, producers and local food systems. Members pressed CDFA and Department of Finance on contingency planning if federal cooperative funding declines and on how requested general fund dollars fit into the state's constrained budget outlook.

Security and infrastructure remediation CDFA requested $2.478 million in 2025–26 and ongoing positions and funding to implement permanent fixes after a March 2024 cybersecurity incident that exposed private data. The request would fund application upgrades, security assessments, and monitoring. CDFA said a temporary fix implemented with the Department of Technology remains in place but is not…