committees, to amend the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 
1995 to require registered lobbyists to identify relatives 
who are covered officials and disclose lobbying contacts 
with relatives, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Making Every Rep-
resentative’s Integrity Transparent Act of 2014’’ or the 
‘‘MERIT Act’’. 
SEC. 2. PROHIBITING CAMPAIGN COMMITTEES FROM EM-
PLOYING RELATIVES OF CANDIDATES. 
(a) PROHIBITION.—Section 302 of the Federal Elec-
tion Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 432) is amended 
by adding at the end the following new subsection: 
‘‘(j) RESTRICTIONS ON DEALINGS WITH RELATIVES 
OF CANDIDATES.— 
‘‘(1) PROHIBITING EMPLOYMENT.— 
‘‘(A) AUTHORIZED COMMITTEES.—An au-
thorized committee of a candidate may not em-
ploy in a paid position any individual who is a 
relative of the candidate. 
‘‘(B) LEADERSHIP
PACS.—A leadership 
PAC (as defined in section 304(i)(8)(B)) may 
not employ in a paid position any individual 
who is a relative of the candidate or individual 
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holding Federal office who establishes, finances, 
maintains, or controls the leadership PAC. 
‘‘(2) RELATIVE DEFINED.—In this subsection, 
the term ‘relative’ means, with respect to a can-
didate or individual holding Federal office, an aunt, 
brother, brother-in-law, daughter, daughter-in-law, 
father, father-in-law, first cousin, grandson, grand-
daughter, half-brother, half-sister, husband, mother, 
mother-in-law, nephew, niece, sister, sister-in-law, 
son, son-in-law, stepbrother, stepdaughter, step-
father, stepmother, stepsister, stepson, uncle, or 
wife.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
subsection (a) shall take effect upon the expiration of the 
90-day period which begins on the date of the enactment 
of this Act. 
SEC. 3. LIMIT ON INTEREST RATE PAID BY CAMPAIGN COM-
MITTEES ON LOANS MADE BY CANDIDATES. 
(a) LIMIT ON INTEREST RATE.—Section 302 of the 
Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 432), 
as amended by section 2, is further amended by adding 
at the end the following new subsection: 
‘‘(k) LIMIT ON INTEREST RATE PAID ON LOANS 
MADE BY CANDIDATES.— 
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‘‘(1) LIMIT.—If an authorized committee of a 
candidate accepts a loan from the candidate, the 
committee may not pay interest on the loan at an 
annual rate higher than the prime rate as of the 
date the loan is agreed to plus 2 percentage points. 
‘‘(2) PRIME
RATE
DEFINED.—In this sub-
section, the term ‘prime rate’ means the bank prime 
loan rate published in the Federal Reserve Statis-
tical Release on selected interest rates (daily or 
weekly), and commonly referred to as the H.15 re-
lease (or any successor publication).’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
subsection (a) shall apply with respect to loans made on 
or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 4. ENHANCED DISCLOSURE OF CERTAIN INFORMA-
TION BY CAMPAIGN COMMITTEES. 
(a) 
LOANS
MADE
BY
CANDIDATES.—Section 
304(b)(3)(E) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 
1971 (2 U.S.C. 434(b)(3)(E)) is amended by striking 
‘‘and the date and amount or value of such loan;’’ and 
inserting the following: ‘‘the date and amount or value of 
such loan, and in the case of a loan made to an authorized 
committee which is made by or guaranteed by the can-
didate, the terms and conditions of the loan, including the 
aggregate amount of the loan, the annualized interest rate 
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(and, if the interest rate is variable, a description of how 
the rate may vary), the terms and conditions (if any) 
under which the interest rate may be changed from fixed 
to variable or from variable to fixed, the repayment sched-
ule, the duration of the loan, any fees and penalties which 
may be assessed on the borrower, and the requirements 
(if any) for loan forgiveness or deferment;’’. 
(b) PAYMENTS TO RELATIVES OF CANDIDATES.— 
(1) PAYMENTS FOR OPERATING EXPENSES.— 
Section 304(b)(5)(A) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 
434(b)(5)(A)) is amended by striking the semicolon 
at the end and inserting the following: ‘‘, and, if the 
person to whom the expenditure is made is a relative 
of the candidate (as defined in section 302(j)(2)) or 
is a business organization with respect to which a 
relative of the candidate (as so defined) serves as an 
officer or director, the name and address of the rel-
ative and the type of relative involved;’’. 
(2) 
OTHER
DISBURSEMENTS.—Section 
304(b)(6)(A) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 434(b)(6)(A)) is 
amended by striking the semicolon at the end and 
inserting the following: ‘‘, and, if the person who re-
ceived the disbursement is a relative of the candidate 
(as defined in section 302(j)(2)) or is a business or-
ganization with respect to which a relative of the 
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candidate (as so defined) serves as an officer or di-
rector, the name and address of the relative and the 
type of relative involved;’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply with respect to reports filed under 
section 304 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 
after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 5. CLARIFICATION OF RULES APPLICABLE TO USES 
OF CONTRIBUTIONS ACCEPTED BY POLIT-
ICAL COMMITTEES. 
(a) 
PROHIBITING
CONVERSION
TO
PERSONAL 
USE.—Section 313(b)(2) of the Federal Election Cam-
paign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 439a(b)(2)) is amended by 
striking ‘‘the candidate’s election campaign or individual’s 
duties as a holder of Federal office,’’ and inserting the 
following: ‘‘the candidate’s election campaign, the individ-
ual’s duties as a holder of Federal office, or the political 
committee’s political activities (as the case may be),’’. 
(b) CLARIFICATION THAT CONTRIBUTIONS MAY BE 
USED FOR AUTHORIZED EXPENDITURES IN CONNECTION 
WITH POLITICAL ACTIVITIES AND FOR OTHER LAWFUL 
PURPOSES.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 313(a) of such Act 
(2 U.S.C. 439a(a)) is amended— 
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(A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 
by striking ‘‘accepted by a candidate’’ and in-
serting ‘‘accepted by a candidate or a political 
committee’’; 
(B) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 
by striking ‘‘used by the candidate or indi-
vidual’’ and inserting ‘‘used by the candidate, 
individual, or political committee’’; and 
(C) in paragraph (1), by striking the semi-
colon at the end and inserting the following: ‘‘, 
or, in the case of a political committee, in con-
nection with the committee’s political activi-
ties;’’. 
(2) 
CONFORMING
AMENDMENTS.—Section 
313(a) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 439a(a)) is amended— 
(A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘for ordi-
nary and necessary expenses’’ and inserting ‘‘in 
the case of a candidate or individual, for ordi-
nary and necessary expenses’’; 
(B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘for con-
tributions’’ and inserting ‘‘in the case of a can-
didate or individual, for contributions’’; 
(C) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘for 
transfers’’ and inserting ‘‘in the case of a can-
didate or individual, for transfers’’; and 
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(D) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘for do-
nations’’ and inserting ‘‘in the case of a can-
didate or individual, for donations’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply with respect to elections occurring 
after December 2014. 
SEC. 6. REQUIRING LOBBYISTS TO IDENTIFY RELATIVES 
WHO ARE COVERED OFFICIALS AND DIS-
CLOSE 
LOBBYING 
CONTACTS 
WITH 
REL-
ATIVES. 
(a) IDENTIFICATION OF RELATIVES WHO ARE COV-
ERED OFFICIALS IN REGISTRATION STATEMENTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 4(b)(6) of the Lob-
bying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1603(b)(6)) 
is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(6) for each employee of the registrant who 
has acted or whom the registrant expects to act as 
a lobbyist on behalf of the client— 
‘‘(A) the name of the employee; 
‘‘(B) the position in which the employee 
served if such employee has served as a covered 
executive branch official or a covered legislative 
branch official in the 20 years before the date 
on which the employee first acted as a lobbyist 
on behalf of the client; and 
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‘‘(C) the name of each relative of the em-
ployee who serves currently or who served pre-
viously as a covered executive branch official or 
a covered legislative branch official and, in the 
case of an official who is or was a Member of 
Congress, the Congressional Bioguide Identifier 
assigned to the Member by the Clerk of the 
House of Representatives or the Secretary of 
the Senate, as the case may be.’’. 
(2) UPDATES TO REGISTRATION FOR LOBBY-
ISTS WHO BECOME RELATIVES OF COVERED OFFI-
CIALS AFTER REGISTRATION.—Section 4 of such Act 
(2 U.S.C. 1603) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new subsection: 
‘‘(e) UPDATES TO REGISTRATION FOR EMPLOYEES 
WHO BECOME RELATIVES OF COVERED OFFICIALS.—If, 
after a registrant registers under this section, an employee 
of the registrant who is identified in the registration under 
subsection (b)(6) becomes the relative of a covered legisla-
tive branch official or a covered executive branch official, 
the registrant shall update the registration to include the 
information described in subparagraph (B) of such sub-
section with respect to the employee and the official not 
later than 90 days after the employee becomes the relative 
of the official.’’. 
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(3) EFFECTIVE DATE; TRANSITION RULE FOR 
CURRENT REGISTRANTS.— 
(A) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments 
made by this subsection shall apply with respect 
to registrations made under section 4 of the 
Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 after the date 
of the enactment of this Act. 
(B) TRANSITION RULE.—A registrant who 
registered under section 4 of the Lobbying Dis-
closure Act of 1995 prior to the date of the en-
actment of this Act shall include the informa-
tion described in section 4(b)(6)(C) of such Act 
(as added by paragraph (1)) in the next quar-
terly report on lobbying activities which the reg-
istrant files under section 5(a) of such Act after 
the date of the enactment of this Act. 
(b) INCLUSION OF LOBBYING CONTACTS WITH REL-
ATIVES IN QUARTERLY REPORTS ON LOBBYING ACTIVI-
TIES.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 5(b)(2) of such Act 
(2 U.S.C. 1604(b)(2)) is amended— 
(A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub-
paragraph (C); 
(B) by striking the semicolon at the end of 
subparagraph (D) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
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(C) by adding at the end the following new 
subparagraph: 
‘‘(E) if, on behalf of the client, any lob-
byist employed by the registrant contacted a 
relative who is a covered legislative branch offi-
cial or covered executive branch official, a state-
ment identifying the lobbyist, the official (and, 
if the official is a Member of Congress, the 
Congressional Bioguide Identifier assigned to 
the Member by the Clerk of the House of Rep-
resentatives or the Secretary of the Senate, as 
the case may be), the subject matter of the con-
tact, and the type of relative involved;’’. 
(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 
by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to reports 
filed under section 5 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act 
of 1995 with respect to quarterly periods which 
begin on or after the date of the enactment of this 
Act. 
(c) RELATIVE DEFINED.—Section 3 of such Act (2 
U.S.C. 1602) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating paragraph (16) as para-
graph (17); and 
(2) by inserting after paragraph (15) the fol-
lowing new paragraph: 
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‘‘(16) RELATIVE.—The term ‘relative’ means, 
with respect to a lobbyist or employee of a reg-
istrant, an aunt, brother, brother-in-law, daughter, 
daughter-in-law, father, father-in-law, first cousin, 
grandson, granddaughter, half-brother, half-sister, 
husband, mother, mother-in-law, nephew, niece, sis-
ter, sister-in-law, son, son-in-law, stepbrother, step-
daughter, stepfather, stepmother, stepsister, stepson, 
uncle, or wife.’’. 
Æ 
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