H.R. 5011: MERIT Act
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H.R. 5011: MERIT Act
113th Congress · introduced 2014-06-26 · Government Operations and Politics · Latest: Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice.
federal
Follow this bill, step by step
- Where it came from: introduced 2014-06-26 · official record
- Who proposed it: Rep. Speier, Jackie [D-CA-14] · what a sponsor is
- What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
- Where it stands now: Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
- If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.
Official title
MERIT Act
Plain summary
Making Every Representative's Integrity Transparent Act of 2014 or the MERIT Act - Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to prohibit a candidate's authorized committee from employing any of the candidate's relatives in a paid position. Prohibits a leadership political action committee (PAC) from employing in a paid position any relative of the candidate or any individual holding federal office who establishes, finances, maintains, or controls the leadership PAC. Limits the interest rate an authorized committee may pay on a loan accepted from the candidate to an annual rate no higher than the prime rate plus 2%. Revises political committee disclosure requirements about: loans made by candidates, expenditures to relatives of candidates for operating expenses, and disbursements received by a candidate's relative or a business organization one of whose officers or dicrectors is a relative of the candidate. Applies the prohibition against the conversion to personal use of contributions accepted by candidates also to contributions accepted by political committees. Allows the use of contributions accepted by political committees for authorized expenditures in connection with political activities. Amends the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 to: (1) require lobbying registrations to contain, for each employee of the registrant who has acted or who the registrant expects to act as a lobbyist on behalf of the client, the name of each relative of the employee who serves currently or who has served previously as a covered executive or legislative branch official, including the Congressional Bioguide Identifier of any covered official who is or was a Member of Congress; (2) require updates to registrations for employees who become relatives of covered officials, and (3) include lobbying contacts with relatives who are covered officials in quarterly reports on lobbying activities.
Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.
What a vote does
A “Yea” vote
If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.
A “Nay” vote
If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.
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What does this mean? (plain words)
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The strongest published arguments
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Alternatives
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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes
Officials and money
Sponsor: Rep. Speier, Jackie [D-CA-14] · 3 cosponsors
Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.
Cosponsors on this site
No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.
Words on this page, explained (2)
- Authorization
- A law that creates or continues a government program and says what it may do, often with a suggested spending ceiling. An authorization alone does not provide money; a separate appropriation does.
- Political action committee (PAC)
- A committee that raises and spends money to support or oppose candidates. PACs that give directly to federal candidates have contribution limits and report to the Federal Election Commission.
Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.
Sources
- Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)
- Congress.gov
- Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-113hr5011.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/113/hr>
Record fed-us-cong113-hr5011 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong113 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong113