Sacramento, California - California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed legislation undoing a widely criticized anti-truancy law previously championed by Kamala Harris.

Newsom on Wednesday signed the More Help Not Less Act of 2025 (AB 461) – introduced by Democratic Assemblymember Patrick Ahrens – to repeal a harsh 2011 law Harris pushed while serving as San Francisco district attorney.

The anti-truancy law authorized jail time and up to $2,000 fines for parents of "chronic truants," defined as children absent from class for 10% or more of the school year.

The law was heavily criticized for criminalizing parents without providing them any support.

"My bottom line is these children have to be in school," Harris said at the time. "There will be outrage when in 10 years they're a menace to society hanging out on the corner."

In her 2011 inaugural address as California attorney general, she warned, "We are putting parents on notice. If you fail in your responsibility to your kids, we are going to work to make sure you face the full force and consequences of the law."

Harris has since walked back her support for the anti-truancy measure, telling Pod Save America in 2019, "I regret that that [criminalization of parents] has happened and the thought that anything I did could have led to that."

Both Harris and Newsom are considered likely 2028 Democratic presidential contenders.