---
type: "Bill"
title: "Religious-exempt child day centers; staff-to-children ratios."
description: "Religious-exempt child day centers; staff-to-children ratios. Provides that, with respect to a child day center that is exempt from licensure due to its operation under the auspices of a religious institution, the applicable staff-to-children ratio for children receiving care in a group shall be based on the age of the youngest child in such group. This bill is identical to SB 927."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "HB 1235"
citation: "Virginia HB 1235 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Tony O. Wilt"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 27
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2020-01-08"
last_action: "2020-03-27"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/0ab9e5c7-d1fc-4670-b4ec-82585a67fb42"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+HB1235"
source_hash: "4b467a64c86971a1270d715a989cf726a0a6863df79b3770ff145c0156c1a924"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
---

# Virginia HB 1235 (2020) — Religious-exempt child day centers; staff-to-children ratios.

Religious-exempt child day centers; staff-to-children ratios. Provides that, with respect to a child day center that is exempt from licensure due to its operation under the auspices of a religious institution, the applicable staff-to-children ratio for children receiving care in a group shall be based on the age of the youngest child in such group. This bill is identical to SB 927.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0494)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP0494)
2. **Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1235ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB1235ER)
3. **Impact statement from DPB (HB1235)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB1235)

## Votes

- Reported from Rehabilitation and Social Services (13-Y 0-N) — **13–0** (pass) · upper
- Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Health, Welfare and Institutions (22-Y 0-N) — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Rereferred from Education and Health (9-Y 0-N) — **9–0** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting (4-Y 0-N) — **4–0** (pass) · lower
- Referred from Education — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (100-Y 0-N) — **99–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Tony O. Wilt — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2020-01-08** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20102476D `introduction`
- **2020-01-08** Referred to Committee on Education `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-15** Referred from Education
- **2020-01-15** Referred to Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-15** Impact statement from DPB (HB1235)
- **2020-01-17** Assigned HWI sub: Social Services `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-30** Subcommittee recommends reporting (4-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-04** Reported from Health, Welfare and Institutions (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-05** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2020-02-06** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2020-02-07** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (100-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2020-02-07** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (100-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-10** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2020-02-10** Referred to Committee on Education and Health `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-13** Rereferred from Education and Health (9-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-13** Rereferred to Rehabilitation and Social Services `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-21** Reported from Rehabilitation and Social Services (13-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-24** Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-25** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-02-25** Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2020-03-02** Enrolled
- **2020-03-02** Impact statement from DPB (HB1235ER)
- **2020-03-02** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-03-03** Signed by President
- **2020-03-12** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 12, 2020
- **2020-03-12** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2020
- **2020-03-27** Approved by Governor-Chapter 494 (effective 7/1/20) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/0ab9e5c7-d1fc-4670-b4ec-82585a67fb42`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).