DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Senate has passed a Democratic-sponsored amendment to a state spending bill that would require the state auditor to look into confidential settlement agreements with fired state workers during Gov. Terry Branstad’s current term. The amendment authorizes $10,000 for the auditor to conduct the reviews.

Senate Republicans proposed to amend the measure to cover the administrations of Chet Culver and Tom Vilsack, both Democrats, claiming confidential settlements are nothing new. The proposal failed. Democratic Senate Leader Mike Gronstal accused Republicans of politicizing the issue. He says the question of whether Branstad’s administration fired state employees for political reasons needs to be answered.  Republican Sen. Jack Whitver says the issue has been going on for years.

The amendment was tacked onto the Administration and Regulation Budget bill, approved Wednesday 26-21.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Officials in Madison County have banned firearms from the courthouse following a gun scare in the building.  The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday in favor of the ban. Madison County was the last of 16 counties in its judicial district to enact such a ban.

Guy Cook, president of the Iowa State Bar Association, applauded the vote and urged more county officials to examine security at their courthouses. The Des Moines Register reports some gun rights advocates say the ban violates Iowa law that allows residents with proper permits to carry concealed firearms.

Twenty-nine-year-old Cory Lee Daugherty is accused of pulling out a weapon and brandishing it around the Madison County courtroom last month. He faces multiple charges in the case.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – An investigator says it’s unclear what caused the fire that destroyed the car in which a prominent Iowa developer was found dead Sunday.  Ron Humphrey of the Iowa Fire Marshal’s Office says investigators found no definitive evidence in the burned-out Honda Accord where Bob Knapp’s body was found in rural Guthrie County.

Investigators are looking into what caused Knapp’s death and the vehicle’s fire. Humphrey says preliminary testing indicates Knapp didn’t die of carbon monoxide poisoning. He also didn’t have gunshot wounds.

Knapp left prison last week after serving about 2  1/2 years for conspiring to mishandle the removal of asbestos from a Des Moines building he was renovating. The next day, he borrowed a friend’s car so that he could check in with his parole officer. He never returned.