DMV to turn over driver's license data to feds

Author

Carly Heltzel
April 28, 2026

Good morning. It’s Tuesday, and I’m reading about the Emmy-winning star from “Severence” who talked at the SLO Film Festival this weekend. Onto the five Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and California stories you need to know for today.

1.

California’s DMV will turn over detailed information about drivers license holders to the federal government, including those without proper authorization to be in the U.S. A decade ago, when California started issuing licenses to undocumented immigrants, the state promised that it would not share this data. But the Department of Homeland security is threatening to stop accepting California IDs at airports if the data isn’t turned over. The data identifies if people have a social security number, putting roughly 1 million license holders at higher risk.

2.

A drug use harm reduction group gave out 168,000 sterile syringes to people in SLO County but only got back 131,000 — a difference of 37,000 syringes from July 2024 to June 2025. A top county health official said this could suggest people are picking up syringes from the street. The group also distributed about 20,000 more than the prior fiscal year because of an increase in outreach. The goal is to reduce the likelihood of passing diseases through used syringes.

3.

A new membership-based healthcare clinic opened up downtown yesterday. NextGen Concierge Medicine uses a different approach, charging patients a monthly rate to come in for a certain number of guaranteed appointments per year. This one says it offers competitive pricing for this type of clinic, with an individual paying $3,000 per year, or $275 monthly. It also offers genetic testing with a lab partnership.

4.

California’s students lag behind in math skills. So one state senator wants to implement a screening test for kindergarteners, first- and second-graders to identify who needs extra help earlier on. Only 37% of students were at grade level for math last year, with some groups struggling further — only 16% of Black 11th graders were at grade level. And nationwide, California is ranked 43rd among the states in fourth grade math scores. 

5.

USA Today readers ranked SLO’s downtown Farmer’s Market one of the best in the country. It received the No. 9 spot out of more than 8,600 farmers markets in the country. SLO was one of two from California who made the top 10, with San Francisco’s Ferry Plaza Farmers Market taking the No. 10 spot. The top three were in Florida, South Carolina and Colorado.