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DES MOINES, IOWA (AP) -- Iowa lawmakers appear on track to approve a $5.3 billion state budget and end this year's session this week.

Legislative leaders have been aiming to wrap up early this year to save money. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy says he thinks they will be done Thursday, and to help make that happen, he and other leaders will head off lawmakers' attempts to put pet projects into budget measures.

The other issue they may tackle is a measure that would set statewide standards for permits to carry concealed weapons.
Currently, local sheriffs establish these rules.

Also, the Government Oversight Committee will hear testimony from the executive director and board of the Iowa Association of
School Boards, which is being investigated for its use of tax dollars.

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