[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4688 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4688
To require the collection of voluntary feedback on services provided by
agencies, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 26, 2021
Mr. Connolly (for himself and Mr. Fitzpatrick) 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 Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Federal Agency Customer Experience
Act of 2021''.
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, equitable, and
high-quality services and customer experiences across multiple
channels;
(3) many agencies, offices, programs, and Federal employees
provide excellent customer experiences to individuals, but many
parts of the Federal Government still fall short on delivering
the customer experience that individuals have come to expect
from the private sector;
(4) according to the 2020 American Customer Satisfaction
Index, the Federal Government ranks among the bottom of all
industries in the United States in customer satisfaction;
(5) providing an equitable, reliable, transparent, and
responsive customer experience to individuals improves the
confidence of the people of the United States in their
Government and helps agencies achieve greater impact and
fulfill their missions; and
(6) improving service to individuals requires agencies to
work across organizational boundaries, leverage technology,
collect and share standardized data, and develop customer-
centered mindsets and experience strategies.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) all agencies should strive to provide a high-quality,
courteous, effective, and efficient customer experience to the
people of the United States and seek to measure, collect,
report, and use metrics relating to the experience of
individuals interacting with agencies to continually improve
the customer experience of the people of the United States; and
(2) adequate Federal funding is needed to ensure agency
staffing levels that can provide the public with an improved
customer experience.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the
Administrator of General Services.
(2) Agency.--The term ``agency'' has the meaning given the
term in section 3502 of title 44, United States Code.
(3) Covered agency.--The term ``covered agency'' means an
agency or component of an agency that is required by the
Director to collect voluntary customer experience feedback for
purposes of section 5, based on an assessment of the components
and programs of the agency with the highest impact on or number
of interactions with individuals or entities.
(4) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of
the Office of Management and Budget.
(5) Voluntary customer experience feedback.--The term
``voluntary customer experience feedback'' means the submission
of information, an opinion, or a concern to an agency by an
individual or entity that--
(A) is voluntarily made by the individual or
entity; and
(B) relates to--
(i) a particular service provided to the
individual or entity by the agency; or
(ii) an interaction of the individual or
entity with the agency.
SEC. 4. GUIDELINES FOR VOLUNTARY CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE FEEDBACK.
Each agency that solicits voluntary customer experience feedback
shall ensure that--
(1) individuals and entities providing responses to the
solicitation of voluntary customer experience feedback have the
option to remain anonymous;
(2) individuals and entities that decline to participate in
the solicitation of voluntary customer experience feedback are
not treated differently by the agency for purposes of providing
services or information;
(3) the solicitation includes--
(A) the fewest number of questions as is
practicable; and
(B) not more than 10 questions;
(4) the voluntary nature of the solicitation is clear;
(5) the proposed solicitation of voluntary customer
experience feedback will contribute to improved customer
experience;
(6) solicitations of voluntary customer experience feedback
are limited to 1 solicitation per interaction with an
individual or entity;
(7) to the extent practicable, the solicitation of
voluntary customer experience feedback is made at the point of
service with an individual or entity;
(8) instruments for collecting voluntary customer
experience feedback are accessible to individuals with
disabilities in accordance with section 508 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d); and
(9) internal agency data governance policies remain in
effect with respect to the collection of voluntary customer
experience feedback from individuals and entities.
SEC. 5. CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE DATA COLLECTION.
(a) Collection of Responses.--The head of each covered agency,
assisted by and in coordination with the senior accountable official
for customer experience of the covered agency, shall collect voluntary
customer experience feedback with respect to services of or
interactions with the covered agency.
(b) Content of Questions.--
(1) Standardized questions.--The Director, in coordination
with the Administrator, shall develop a set of standardized
questions for use by covered agencies in collecting voluntary
customer experience feedback under this section that address--
(A) overall satisfaction of individuals or entities
with the specific interaction or service received;
(B) the extent to which individuals or entities
were able to accomplish the intended task or purpose of
those individuals or entities;
(C) whether an individual or entity was treated
with respect and professionalism;
(D) whether an individual or entity believes that
the individual or entity was served in a timely manner;
and
(E) any additional metrics determined by the
Director, in coordination with the Administrator.
(2) Additional questions.--In addition to the questions
developed under paragraph (1), the senior accountable official
for customer experience of a covered agency may develop
questions relevant to the specific operations or programs of
the covered agency.
(c) Additional Requirements.--To the extent practicable--
(1) each covered agency shall collect voluntary customer
experience feedback across every platform or channel through
which the covered agency interacts with individuals or other
entities to deliver information or services; and
(2) voluntary customer experience feedback collected under
this section shall be tied to specific transactions or
interactions with customers of the covered agency.
(d) Exemption From Public Notice and Comment.--The requirements of
section 3506(c)(2)(A) and subparagraphs (B) and (D) of subsection
(a)(1) and subsection (b) of section 3507 of title 44, United States
Code, shall not apply to the collection of voluntary customer
experience feedback by an agency that meets the requirements of this
Act.
(e) Report.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act and not less frequently than quarterly
thereafter, each covered agency shall submit to the Director,
in a manner determined by the Director, an aggregated report on
each solicitation of voluntary customer experience feedback
from individuals and entities conducted by the covered agency,
which shall include--
(A) the intended purpose of the solicitation;
(B) the appropriate point of contact within the
covered agency for the solicitation;
(C) the questions or survey instrument submitted to
members of the public as part of the solicitation;
(D) a description of how the covered agency uses
the voluntary customer experience feedback from the
solicitation to improve the customer experience of the
covered agency; and
(E) the results of the solicitation, including--
(i) the responses collected;
(ii) the total number of survey responses;
and
(iii) the rate of response for the
solicitation.
(2) Centralized website.--The Director shall--
(A) include and maintain on a publicly available
website the information provided by covered agencies
under paragraph (1); and
(B) for the purpose of subparagraph (A), establish
a website or make use of an existing website, such as
the website required under section 1122 of title 31,
United States Code.
SEC. 6. CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE REPORT.
(a) In General.--Not later than 450 days after the date on which
all covered agencies have submitted the first reports to the Director
required under section 5(e)(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 Reform of the House of Representatives a
report assessing the data collected and reported by the covered
agencies.
(b) Contents.--The report required under subsection (a) shall
include--
(1) a summary of the information required to be submitted
by covered agencies under section 5(e)(1);
(2) a description of how each covered agency used the
voluntary customer experience feedback received by the covered
agency to improve the customer experience of the covered
agency; and
(3) an assessment of the quality of the data collected
under this Act and, if applicable, recommendations to improve
that quality.
SEC. 7. RESTRICTION ON USE OF INFORMATION.
No information collected pursuant to this Act may be used in any
appraisal of the job performance of a Federal employee under chapter 43
of title 5, United States Code, or any other provision of law.
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