The Senate Committee on Health and Human Services advanced Assembly Bill 185 during a work session, endorsing amendments that would bar most homeowners associations from prohibiting a unit owner from operating a licensed child‑care facility that cares for between five and 12 children.

The bill, presented by committee staff member Destiny Cooper, would prohibit “with certain exceptions the executive board and governing documents of a unit owner’s association from prohibiting a unit owner from operating a licensed child care facility providing care for between 5 and 12 children,” Cooper said. An amendment negotiated with the bill sponsor adds clarifications and narrow limits on how associations may regulate such operations.

Under the amendment described in committee, associations may impose a numerical limit on the total number of licensed child‑care facilities in a common‑interest community but only as “no less than 1 or no less than 1 per every 200 units, whichever is greater,” Cooper said. The amendment also preserves an associations’ ability to adopt rules about use of common areas and parking and to require compliance with association rules.

The amendment removes provisions that would have allowed licensure of child‑care facilities in multifamily dwellings like apartments, condominiums or townhomes; the revised language excludes those settings, Cooper said. “Remove section 7 and 8 related to the licensure of childcare facilities in a multifamily dwelling, apartment, or condominium building,” she said.

Senator Sharon Titus voiced opposition to the measure. “My issue is the government coming in and mandating whatever the business is in a community… it’s just in my mind wrong,” Titus said, and recorded a vote of no when the committee moved the amendment to a vote. The chair announced the motion carried and assigned the floor statement to Senator Lane.

The committee treated the item as an amend-and-do-pass recommendation. The bill sponsor is Assembly Member Anderson; Cooper noted the amendment was proposed by the assembly sponsor and is reflected in the current draft. The committee did not take public testimony during the work session; a public comment period was held at the end of the meeting but no callers participated.

If enacted as amended, the bill would limit association prohibitions on small licensed child‑care businesses while retaining association authority to adopt operational rules and numerical limits tied to community size.

The committee assigned a floor statement and the bill will next be considered on the Senate floor.