Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A plan to hike the state’s fuel tax by ten cents is quickly moving through the Iowa Legislature. The legislation would raise the state fuel tax by 10 cents. That would provide about $215 million annually for the state’s network of bridges and roads, many of which are in disrepair. Iowa’s fuel tax is now 22 cents per gallon for gasoline, including fees. The tax hasn’t been raised since 1989.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Des Moines city councilman says he was not trying to get a speeding ticket waived when he contacted the interim police chief. Joe Gatto was given a ticket for driving 10 miles over the speed limit during a traffic enforcement event on Dec 3. After the traffic stop, the councilman contacted the Interim Police Chief Doug Harvey. His speeding ticket was voided 27 minutes after being downloaded onto the police department’s server. Gatto says that he did not contact the police chief to have the ticket waived, but to express concern about how the traffic stop was handled.

BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a 24-year-old man has been gunned down on a street in southeast Iowa. The shooting occurred around 2:45 p.m. Monday near South Hill Park in Burlington. Police and medics found the man lying in the street with multiple gunshot wounds to his torso. He was taken to Great River Medical Center in West Burlington, where he died around 3:30 p.m. The man has been identified as Deonte Raynell Carter, of Burlington. No arrests have been made.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — The defense is getting its turn after prosecutors rested their case at Theresa Supino’s murder trial in Waterloo. The woman is accused of killing her husband and his girlfriend more than 30 years ago. Prosecutors called more than 40 witnesses over nine days.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A member of a task force that assisted the Iowa Board of Regents in creating a new performance-based funding model has reiterated his criticism of the model to lawmakers. Len Hadley, retired chief executive officer of Maytag Corp., told an education appropriations subcommittee Tuesday that the model would unfairly compare funding needs at the state’s three public universities.

Hadley, who has previously criticized the model, represented the University of Iowa on a five-person task force that issued a funding proposal to the regents. He voted against it. The new model rewards universities for recruiting more in-state students. The regents say the model, which they approved last year, is more transparent in its method for requesting state dollars.

Lawmakers at the meeting say they will discuss the issue in the future.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A bill to boost Iowa’s minimum wage has won preliminary approval in the Iowa Senate. A three-member subcommittee backed the bill Tuesday, with two Democrats and one Republican voting in favor. The bill would gradually raise Iowa’s minimum wage from $7.25 to $8.75.

Sen. Tony Bisignano, a Des Moines Democrat, says the bill was an overdue effort to help low-wage workers. Sen. Rick Bertrand, a Republican from Sioux City, said this would keep Iowa wages in line with neighboring states.

The bill is expected to win approval in the Democratic-majority Senate, but prospects are less clear in the Republican-controlled House. Asked last week if House Republicans would support raising the minimum wage, Republican House Speaker Kraig Paulsen, of Hiawatha, said his caucus was more focused on training for high-paying jobs.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A House panel has declined to approve a bill that would have required Iowa high school students to pass a civics exam to graduate. Members of an education subcommittee discussed the bill Tuesday. It will not be taken up again this session.

A few education groups were registered against the bill, which would have required high school students to pass an exam given to immigrants seeking U.S. citizenship. Lobbyists questioned mandating such a requirement without funding. Lawmakers also pointed out that Iowa high school students are already required to take a government course to graduate.

Several state legislatures are considering similar bills. The Joe Foss Institute, an Arizona-based nonprofit, is working toward getting all 50 states to approve such laws by 2017, when the Constitution turns 230 years old.