The Kentucky House Standing Committee on Veterans, Military Affairs and Public Protection gave House Bill 234 a favorable report during its February 2025 meeting, moving the measure on to the full House, the committee chair said.

Sean Butler, executive director of the Kentucky Police Chiefs Association, told the committee the bill is “a very small bill” designed to correct an exclusion that currently prevents airport police departments from receiving grant funds when they turn firearms over to the Kentucky State Police. “For some reason, they were left out of the the grant funding,” Butler said.

Butler said airport police departments follow the same process as other law-enforcement agencies in turning weapons over to the Kentucky State Police, which either destroys or sells the firearms. The bill would allow those departments to participate in the same grant programs that other departments use when they surrender weapons.

Committee members voted in favor of the measure. The recorded response in committee included Affirmative votes from Representative Blanton; Representative Bratcher; Representative Dossett; Representative Fugate; Representative Gooch; Representative Johnson; Representative Lewis; Representative Moore; Representative Proctor; Representative Roberts; Representative Sharp; Representative Tackett Lafferty; Representative Thomas; Representative Wesley; and Chair McCool. Representative Maddox registered a "pass." Chair McCool said, "The bill passed with favorable expressions. It should do the same in the house floor." The committee did not record a separate motion text, mover, or seconder in the transcript.

The committee chair and Butler described the bill as narrowly targeted to correct the grant-eligibility discrepancy for airport police. Committee members did not debate broader changes to weapons handling or to Kentucky State Police procedures during the discussion recorded in the transcript.

Committee staff said a second bill scheduled for the same meeting will be returned to the committee at a later date because of unresolved issues. The next formal step for House Bill 234 is consideration by the full House on the floor.