‘Unsession’ Plan Tackles Laws Deemed Old, Outdated

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - It's illegal in Minnesota to sell fruit in the wrong-sized container. Bug deflectors must be a certain size and color. Motorists can't drive in neutral.

Those are just a sampling of 1,000 state laws or procedures Gov. Mark Dayton's administration deemed outdated, unnecessary or just downright cumbersome. A team of commissioners asked lawmakers Tuesday to give the statute books an overdue cleaning.

The targeted laws range from the substantive to the silly. Some steps would require agency leaders to communicate with the public in plain language rather than bureaucratic jargon. Dayton signed an executive order implementing that change.

But most of the ideas require the Legislature to pass bills to undo or update old laws. It's part of Dayton's so-called plan to make this the "Unsession."