A bill that would have made it easier for children to be temporarily placed under the care of guardians other than their parents has been stopped from advancing in the California Legislature.
The Senate Appropriations Committee voted unanimously on Aug. 18 to place Assembly Bill 495 on suspense file. At the hearing on Aug. 18, critics voiced their opposition to the bill.
AB 495, or the Family Preparedness Plan Act of 2025, would have expanded the type of person able to execute a caregiver authorization affidavit for a minor. Under the bill, the authority would expand to include “nonrelative extended family members,” who are defined as adults with an established familial or mentoring tie to the child or a relative. According to the affidavit, that could include teachers, medical professionals, clergy, and family friends.
Greg Burt, vice president of the California Family Council, told the committee that the bill, if passed, would cost the state in lawsuits.
“AB 495 would allow any unrelated adult who claims a mentoring relationship to pick up your child from school and make medical decisions without parental knowledge or consent,” he said.
“What’s more alarming is what the California School Boards Association has already said in its legal guidance: a school is supposed to release a student to anyone who presents this affidavit, even if that person isn’t on the child’s emergency contact list. That’s not speculation—that’s policy.”
The California School Boards Association stated in its
legal guidance that if a student’s parents are detained by immigration enforcement, school administrators may release the student to persons listed as emergency contacts “or to any individual who presents a caregiver’s authorization affidavit on behalf of the student.”
The person who relies on the affidavit has no obligation to make any further inquiry or investigation.
The vote took place one day before thousands of protestors gathered in Sacramento on Aug. 19 to voice their concerns over the bill, mainly with regard to the affidavit. The protest was organized by Pastor Jack Hibbs of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills in order to demand that California Gov. Gavin Newsom veto AB 495.
“Legal experts have concluded that this very well might be the worst, most dangerous legislation that has ever come out of California,” Hibbs told Fox News Digital. “If this bill passes, you have to grab your kid and leave the state for your child’s protection.”
State Sen. Kelly Seyarto was one of the two Republicans who voted to put the bill on suspense file.
“Behind me you can see—and hear—a rally of people who oppose AB 495, a dangerous bill that removes existing safeguards for children in the state of California,” Seyarto, representing parts of Riverside, Orange, and San Diego counties, said in a video posted to X on Aug. 19 during the protest.
Seyarto was one of the seven committee members who voted to put the bill on suspense file.
The suspense file is a holding place for high-cost bills to be analyzed at a suspense hearing set for a later date. It will then either be removed from the suspense file and advanced to the floor for a vote or be amended or held on suspense, the latter of which is effectively killing the bill for the session without further action.
Nobody at the Aug. 18 hearing spoke in favor of the bill.
The bill was authored by Assemblywoman Celeste Rodriguez, a Democrat representing parts of San Fernando Valley.
Assemblyman David Tangipa, who represents parts of Calaveras, Fresno, Inyo, Madera, Mariposa, Mono, and Tuolumne counties, warned about the bill’s implications.
“When the supermajority grabs more power, laws like AB 495 don’t just stay in California—they set the stage to go national,” he said in a post on social media. “And if that happens, there’s nowhere to run.”
Correction: A previous version of this article misspelled Greg Burt’s name. The Epoch Times regrets the error.
