Federal Agency Customer Experience Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2586 To require the collection of voluntary feedback on services provided by agencies, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 8, 2019 Mr. FITZPATRICK (for himself and Mr. CONNOLLY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform A BILL 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 Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Agency Cus- 4 tomer Experience Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 7 (1) the Federal Government serves the people 8 of the United States and should seek to continually 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 May 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 \\ALPHA3\E\BILLS\H2586.IH H2586 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 2586 IH improve public services provided by the Federal Gov- 1 ernment based on customer feedback; 2 (2) the people of the United States deserve a 3 Federal Government that provides efficient, effec- 4 tive, and high-quality services across multiple chan- 5 nels; 6 (3) many agencies, offices, programs, and Fed- 7 eral employees provide excellent service to individ- 8 uals, however many parts of the Federal Govern- 9 ment still fall short on delivering the customer serv- 10 ice experience that individuals have come to expect 11 from the private sector; 12 (4) according to the 2018 American Customer 13 Satisfaction Index, the Federal Government ranks 14 among the bottom of all industries in the United 15 States in customer satisfaction; 16 (5) providing quality services to individuals im- 17 proves the confidence of the people of the United 18 States in their government and helps agencies 19 achieve greater impact and fulfill their missions; and 20 (6) improving service to individuals requires 21 agencies to work across organizational boundaries, 22 leverage technology, collect and share standardized 23 data, and develop customer-centered mindsets and 24 service strategies. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 May 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 \\ALPHA3\E\BILLS\H2586.IH H2586 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 2586 IH (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con- 1 gress that— 2 (1) all agencies should strive to provide high- 3 quality, courteous, effective, and efficient services to 4 the people of the United States and seek to measure, 5 collect, report, and utilize metrics relating to the ex- 6 perience of individuals interacting with agencies to 7 continually improve services to the people of the 8 United States; and 9 (2) adequate Federal funding is needed to en- 10 sure agency staffing levels that can provide the pub- 11 lic with appropriate customer service levels. 12 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 13 In this Act: 14 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis- 15 trator’’ means the Administrator of General Serv- 16 ices. 17 (2) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ has the 18 meaning given the term in section 3502 of title 44, 19 United States Code. 20 (3) COVERED AGENCY.—The term ‘‘covered 21 agency’’ means an agency or component of an agen- 22 cy that is required by the Director to collect vol- 23 untary feedback for purposes of section 6, based on 24 an assessment of the components and programs of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 May 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 \\ALPHA3\E\BILLS\H2586.IH H2586 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 2586 IH the agency with the highest impact on or number of 1 interactions with individuals or entities. 2 (4) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 3 the Director of the Office of Management and Budg- 4 et. 5 (5) VOLUNTARY FEEDBACK.—The term ‘‘vol- 6 untary feedback’’ has the meaning given the term in 7 section 3502 of title 44, United States Code, as 8 added by section 4 of this Act. 9 SEC. 4. APPLICATION OF THE PAPERWORK REDUCTION 10 ACT TO COLLECTION OF VOLUNTARY FEED- 11 BACK. 12 Subchapter I of chapter 35 of title 44, United States 13 Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Paperwork Reduction 14 Act’’), is amended— 15 (1) in section 3502— 16 (A) in paragraph (13)(D), by striking 17 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 18 (B) in paragraph (14), by striking the pe- 19 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 20 (C) by adding at the end the following: 21 ‘‘(15) the term ‘voluntary feedback’ means any 22 submission of information, opinion, or concern that 23 is— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 May 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 \\ALPHA3\E\BILLS\H2586.IH H2586 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 2586 IH ‘‘(A) voluntarily made by a specific indi- 1 vidual or other entity relating to a particular 2 service of or transaction with an agency; and 3 ‘‘(B) specifically solicited by that agency.’’; 4 and 5 (2) in section 3518(c)(1)— 6 (A) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘or’’ 7 at the end; 8 (B) in subparagraph (D), by striking the 9 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 10 (C) by adding at the end the following: 11 ‘‘(E) by an agency that is voluntary feed- 12 back.’’. 13 SEC. 5. GUIDELINES FOR VOLUNTARY FEEDBACK. 14 Each agency that solicits voluntary feedback shall en- 15 sure that— 16 (1) responses to the solicitation of voluntary 17 feedback remain anonymous and shall not be traced 18 to specific individuals or entities; 19 (2) individuals and entities who decline to par- 20 ticipate in the solicitation of voluntary feedback shall 21 not be treated differently by the agency for purposes 22 of providing services or information; 23 (3) the solicitation does not include more than 24 10 questions; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 May 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 \\ALPHA3\E\BILLS\H2586.IH H2586 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 2586 IH (4) the voluntary nature of the solicitation is 1 clear; 2 (5) the proposed solicitation of voluntary feed- 3 back will contribute to improved customer service; 4 (6) solicitations of voluntary feedback are lim- 5 ited to 1 solicitation per interaction with an indi- 6 vidual or entity; 7 (7) to the extent practicable, the solicitation of 8 voluntary feedback is made at the point of service 9 with an individual or entity; 10 (8) instruments for collecting voluntary feed- 11 back are accessible to individuals with disabilities in 12 accordance with section 508 of the Rehabilitation 13 Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d); and 14 (9) internal agency data governance policies re- 15 main in effect with respect to the collection of vol- 16 untary feedback from individuals and entities. 17 SEC. 6. CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE DATA COLLECTION. 18 (a) COLLECTION OF RESPONSES.—The head of each 19 covered agency (or a designee), assisted by and in coordi- 20 nation with the senior accountable official for customer 21 service of the covered agency, shall collect voluntary feed- 22 back with respect to services of or transactions with the 23 covered agency. 24 (b) CONTENT OF QUESTIONS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 May 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 \\ALPHA3\E\BILLS\H2586.IH H2586 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 2586 IH (1) STANDARDIZED QUESTIONS.—The Director, 1 in coordination with the Administrator, shall develop 2 a set of standardized questions for use by covered 3 agencies in collecting voluntary feedback under this 4 section that address— 5 (A) overall satisfaction of individuals or 6 entities with the specific interaction or service 7 received; 8 (B) the extent to which individuals or enti- 9 ties were able to accomplish their intended task 10 or purpose; 11 (C) whether the individual or entity was 12 treated with respect and professionalism; 13 (D) whether the individual or entity be- 14 lieves they were served in a timely manner; and 15 (E) any additional metrics as determined 16 by the Director, in coordination with the Ad- 17 ministrator. 18 (2) ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS.—In addition to 19 the questions developed under paragraph (1), the 20 senior accountable official for customer service at a 21 covered agency may develop questions relevant to the 22 specific operations or programs of the covered agen- 23 cy. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 May 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 \\ALPHA3\E\BILLS\H2586.IH H2586 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 2586 IH (c) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—To the extent 1 practicable— 2 (1) each covered agency shall collect voluntary 3 feedback across all platforms or channels through 4 which the covered agency interacts with individuals 5 or other entities to deliver information or services; 6 and 7 (2) voluntary feedback collected under this sec- 8 tion shall be tied to specific transactions or inter- 9 actions with customers of the covered agency. 10 (d) REPORTS.— 11 (1) ANNUAL REPORT TO THE DIRECTOR.— 12 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 13 after the date of enactment of this Act, and not 14 less frequently than annually thereafter, each 15 covered agency shall publish on the website of 16 the covered agency and submit to the Director, 17 in a manner determined by the Director, a re- 18 port on the voluntary feedback required to be 19 collected under this section that includes— 20 (i) the detailed results, including a 21 summary of how individuals and entities 22 responded to each question; 23 (ii) the total number of survey re- 24 sponses; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 May 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 \\ALPHA3\E\BILLS\H2586.IH H2586 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 2586 IH (iii) the response rate for each survey 1 administered. 2 (B) CENTRALIZED WEBSITE.—The Direc- 3 tor shall— 4 (i) include and maintain on a publicly 5 available website links to the information 6 provided on the websites of covered agen- 7 cies under subparagraph (A); and 8 (ii) for purposes of clause (i), estab- 9 lish a website or make use of an existing 10 website, such as the website required under 11 section 1122 of title 31, United States 12 Code. 13 (2) AGGREGATED REPORT.—Each covered 14 agency shall publish, on a regular basis, an aggre- 15 gated report on the solicitation of voluntary feedback 16 sent to individuals or entities, which shall include— 17 (A) the intended purpose of each solicita- 18 tion of voluntary feedback conducted by the 19 covered agency; 20 (B) the appropriate point of contact within 21 each covered agency for each solicitation of vol- 22 untary feedback conducted; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 May 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 \\ALPHA3\E\BILLS\H2586.IH H2586 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 2586 IH (C) the questions or survey instrument 1 submitted to members of the public as part of 2 the solicitation of voluntary information; and 3 (D) a description of how the covered agen- 4 cy uses the voluntary feedback received by the 5 covered agency to improve the customer service 6 of the covered agency. 7 SEC. 7. CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE REPORT. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 15 months after 9 the date on which all covered agencies have submitted the 10 first annual reports to the Director required under section 11 6(d)(1), and every 2 years thereafter until the date that 12 is 10 years after such date, the Comptroller General of 13 the United States shall make publicly available and submit 14 to the Committee on Homeland Security and Govern- 15 mental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Over- 16 sight and Reform of the House of Representatives a report 17 assessing the data collected and reported by the covered 18 agencies. 19 (b) CONTENTS.—The report required under sub- 20 section (a) shall include— 21 (1) a summary of the information required to 22 be published by covered agencies under section 6(d); 23 and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 May 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 \\ALPHA3\E\BILLS\H2586.IH H2586 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •HR 2586 IH (2) a description of how each covered agency 1 will use the voluntary feedback received by the cov- 2 ered agency to improve service delivery. 3 SEC. 8. RESTRICTION ON USE OF INFORMATION. 4 Any information collected pursuant to this Act, or 5 any amendment made by this Act, may not be used in 6 any appraisal of job performance of a Federal employee 7 under chapter 43 of title 5, United States Code, or any 8 other provision of law. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 May 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 \\ALPHA3\E\BILLS\H2586.IH H2586 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS