Committee rejects bill to let Department of Family Services share client data across agencies

The House Judiciary Committee voted 4-5 not to advance House Bill 48 on a motion to give the bill a “do pass” recommendation, blocking a measure that would have given the director of the Wyoming Department of Family Services authority to permit interagency data sharing through a rulemaking process.

Supporters said the measure aimed to remove technical and statutory barriers that prevent the Department of Family Services from linking client records across systems so agencies can coordinate referrals, confirm provision of services and support bona fide research. "We take privacy very seriously," Department Director Corinne Schmidt told the committee, adding that current confidentiality statutes written decades ago limit the department’s ability to analyze outcomes across systems.

The bill would have authorized the director to permit data sharing for three…