I just read the Use of Deceptive Names bill that Representative Nora Slawik introduced, and that was recently defeated in committee. I fully support the goal of this bill but would recommend a little reworking of the bill to get it through committee.
The bill is intended to keep an organization from taking a name that is so close to an existing organization that it would create confusion with the public. The example often used in explaining this bill is the Maplewood Voter's Coalition. They have been around for a number of years and have supported candidates and causes. Another group with a politically polar perspective took the name Maplewood Voters. Many Maplewood citizens thought that the new messages were coming from the old group.
The goal of preventing one organization from riding the coattails of an established brand has been achieved in business. I'd be hard pressed to get away with opening Three-Em, LLC. anywhere in Minnesota, let alone the entire country. Where I think a rewrite of the bill should go is to require all political organizations (incorporated or not) to register their organizations names with the state. If an organization is going to sponsor literature, contributions, advertising, anything that publicly associates the organizations name to a message, it needs to be registered. Once registered, the organizations names need to be subject to the same legal scrutiny placed on a business.
This approach should achieve the same results as Representative Slawik's recent bill. Let me know what you think.
