Union Calendar No. 810
115th CONGRESS 2d Session |
[Report No. 115–1043]
To require the collection of voluntary feedback on services provided by agencies, and for other purposes.
June 8, 2017
Mr. Farenthold (for himself and Mr. Fitzpatrick) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
November 27, 2018
Additional sponsor: Ms. Sinema
November 27, 2018
Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on June 8, 2017]
To require the collection of voluntary feedback on services provided by agencies, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
This Act may be cited as the “Federal Agency Customer Experience Act of 2018”.
SEC. 2. Findings; sense of Congress.
(a) Findings.—Congress finds that—
(1) the Federal Government serves the people of the United States and should seek to continually improve public services provided by the Federal Government based on customer feedback;
(2) the people of the United States deserve a Federal Government that provides efficient, effective, and high-quality services across multiple channels;
(3) many agencies, offices, programs, and Federal employees provide excellent service to individuals, however many parts of the Federal Government still fall short on delivering the customer service experience that individuals have come to expect from the private sector;
(4) according to the 2016 American Customer Satisfaction Index, the Federal Government ranks among the bottom of all industries in the United States in customer satisfaction;
(b) Sense of Congress.—It is the sense of Congress that all agencies should strive to provide high-quality, courteous, effective, and efficient services to the people of the United States and seek to measure, collect, report, and utilize metrics relating to the experience of individuals interacting with agencies to continually improve services to the people of the United States.
In this Act:
(2) AGENCY.—The term “agency” has the meaning given the term in section 3502 of title 44, United States Code.
SEC. 4. Application of certain provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act to collection of voluntary customer service feedback.
Sections 3506(c) and 3507 of title 44, United States Code (provisions of what is commonly known as the “Paperwork Reduction Act”) shall not apply to a collection of voluntary customer service feedback.
SEC. 5. Guidelines for voluntary customer service feedback.
(a) Evaluation and designation.—The Director shall assess agencies, agency components, and agency programs to identify which have the highest impact on or number of interactions with individuals or entities. Based on the assessment, the Director shall designate agencies, agency components, or programs as covered agencies for purposes of this Act.
(b) Guidance.—The Director shall issue guidance that requires each covered agency that solicits voluntary customer service feedback to ensure that—
(1) any response to the solicitation of voluntary customer service feedback remains anonymous, the collection method does not include a request for or opportunity for the respondent to provide information that could identify such respondent, and any response is not traced to a specific individual or entity;
(2) any individual or entity who declines to participate in the solicitation of voluntary customer service feedback shall not be treated differently by the agency for purposes of providing services or information;
(5) the collection of voluntary customer service feedback is only used to improve customer service and will not be used for any other purpose;
(6) any solicitation of voluntary customer service feedback is limited to 1 solicitation per interaction with an individual or entity;
(7) to the extent practicable, the solicitation of voluntary customer service feedback is made at the point of service with an individual or entity;
(8) any instrument for collecting voluntary customer service feedback is accessible to individuals with disabilities in accordance with section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d); and
SEC. 6. Customer experience data collection.
(a) Collection of responses.—The head of each covered agency (or a designee), assisted by and in consultation with the Performance Improvement Officer or other senior accountable official for customer service of the covered agency, shall collect voluntary customer service feedback with respect to any service of or transaction with the covered agency that has been identified by the Director, in consultation with the Administrator, in accordance with the guidance issued by the Director under section 5.
(b) Content of questions.—
(1) STANDARDIZED QUESTIONS.—The Director, in consultation with the Administrator, shall develop a set of standardized questions for use by each covered agency in collecting voluntary customer service feedback under this section that address—
(A) overall satisfaction of individuals or entities with the specific interaction or service received;
(c) Additional requirements.—To the extent practicable—
(d) Reports.—
(1) ANNUAL REPORT TO THE DIRECTOR.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, and not less frequently than annually thereafter, each covered agency shall publish on the website of the covered agency and submit to the Director, in a manner determined by the Director—
(2) AGGREGATED REPORT.—Each covered agency shall publish in an electronic format and update on a regular basis an aggregated report on the solicitation and use of voluntary customer service feedback, which shall include—
(A) the intended purpose of each solicitation of voluntary customer service feedback conducted by the covered agency;
(B) the appropriate point of contact within each covered agency for each solicitation of voluntary customer service feedback conducted;
SEC. 7. Customer experience scorecard report.
(a) In general.—Not later than 15 months after the date on which all covered agencies have submitted the first annual reports to the Director required under section 6(d)(1), and every 2 years thereafter until the date that is 10 years after such date, the Comptroller General of the United States shall make publicly available and submit to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the House of Representatives a scorecard report assessing the data collected and reported by the covered agencies and each instrument used to collect voluntary customer service feedback.
It is the sense of Congress that adequate Federal funding is needed to ensure agency staffing levels that can provide the public with appropriate customer service levels.
Amend the title so as to read: “A bill to require the collection of voluntary customer service feedback on services provided by agencies, and for other purposes.”.
Union Calendar No. 810 | |||||
| |||||
[Report No. 115–1043] | |||||
A BILL | |||||
To require the collection of voluntary feedback on services provided by agencies, and for other
purposes. | |||||
November 27, 2018 | |||||
Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union,
and ordered to be printed |