DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa lawmakers have approved legislation that would help veterans more easily obtain occupational licenses or own a home. The unanimous approval by the House Veterans Affairs Committee means the bills are now up for debate on the House floor.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The value of crops fell last year as corn and soybeans prices declined from record highs the year before. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says in an annual report the value of 2013 field crops fell 9.8 percent to nearly $167 billion from $185 billion in 2012.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Police in Pennsylvania are asking for help in finding a man in connection with the shooting deaths of Iowa state representative Mary Wolfe’s two sisters in their Pittsburgh home. Police stress that the man is considered a witness, not a suspect. Pittsburgh police homicide detectives on Monday distributed pictures of a man they say was on board the same city bus one sister rode the night before the two were killed.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Lawmakers in the Iowa Senate are working on legislation that would establish more rules for dealing with sexual abuse in the state military. A Senate subcommittee gave preliminary approval Monday to a bill that would require that the Iowa National Guard provide an annual report to the state legislature about the sexual abuse allegations reported the previous year.