Caleb McCullough, Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau

Flanked by cybersecurity and law enforcement officials on Tuesday, Iowa’s top election official said Iowans’ votes in the 2024 primary election — scheduled for next Tuesday — will be counted “accurately and securely.”

The federal declaration comes as more than a third of Iowa’s counties are under state disaster proclamations after a week of dangerous and damaging weather.

Gov. Kim Reynolds’ request covers Adair, Polk, Story and Montgomery counties.

State officials confirmed multiple deaths from the storms that affected much of the state on Tuesday. An initial survey by the National Weather Service has rated the Greenfield tornado at least an EF3.

This year, lawmakers passed, and Gov. Kim Reynolds signed, more than 180 new laws affecting policy areas such as education, taxes, agriculture and health care.

Several hemp retailers opposed the bill as it made its way through the lawmaking process, worrying it would hamstring their ability to sell even non-psychoactive hemp products.

“Although well-intentioned, the amendment to the definition is unnecessary and will cause confusion,” the governor said

She also opens $7 million in grants for the schools

$17.5 million in federal pandemic relief dollars will fund opioid use prevention and treatment projects after Iowa lawmakers failed to agree on spending from the state's Opioid Settlement Fund.

Learn how to vote early, where to vote on election day and which deadlines are approaching for voting in the June primary.

In teaching about the U.S. government, the law directs schools to teach about alternative forms of government, including the “crimes against humanity that have occurred under communist regimes.”

Though he criticized the legal challenges Trump is facing, Grassley told reporters he had not been closely following the trial that began late last month. He said he was spending time in meetings and voting in Washington and holding town halls in Iowa.

A spokesperson confirmed that the Republican Attorneys General Association paid for the trip on Monday.

The lawsuits challenge trucking emission standards from California regulators and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

According to the National Weather Service, over 20 tornadoes struck Iowa on April 26, killing one in the hard-hit town of Minden in Western Iowa.