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Calendar No. 111
116th Congress } { Report
SENATE
1st Session } { 116-46
_______________________________________________________________________
FEDERAL AGENCY CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE ACT OF 2019
__________
R E P O R T
of the
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND
GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES SENATE
to accompany
S. 1275
TO REQUIRE THE COLLECTION OF VOLUNTARY FEEDBACK ON SERVICES PROVIDED BY
AGENCIES, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
June 10, 2019.--Ordered to be printed
______
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
89-010 WASHINGTON : 2019
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin, Chairman
ROB PORTMAN, Ohio GARY C. PETERS, Michigan
RAND PAUL, Kentucky THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware
JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire
MITT ROMNEY, Utah KAMALA D. HARRIS, California
RICK SCOTT, Florida KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona
MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming JACKY ROSEN, Nevada
JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri
Gabbielle D'Adamo Singer, Staff Director
Joseph C. Folio, III, Chief Counsel
Satya P. Thallam, Chief Economist
David M. Weinberg, Minority Staff Director
Zachary I. Schram, Minority Chief Counsel
Michelle M. Benecke, Minority Senior Counsel
Anne E. Nelson, Minority Fellow
Laura W. Kilbride, Chief Clerk
Calendar No. 111
116th Congress } { Report
SENATE
1st Session } { 116-46
======================================================================
FEDERAL AGENCY CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE ACT OF 2019
_______
June 10, 2019.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Johnson, from the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 1275]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs, to which was referred the bill (S. 1275) to require
the collection of voluntary feedback on services provided by
agencies, and for other purposes, having considered the same,
reports favorably thereon with amendments and recommends that
the bill, as amended, do pass.
CONTENTS
Page
I. Purpose and Summary..............................................1
II. Background and Need for the Legislation..........................2
III. Legislative History..............................................3
IV. Section-by-Section Analysis......................................3
V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact..................................5
VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................5
VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............6
I. Purpose and Summary
The Federal Agency Customer Experience Act of 2019, S.
1275, amends the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) to allow
agencies to solicit voluntary customer feedback without first
having to seek approval from the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB), as currently required by the PRA.\1\
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\1\On September 14, 2017, the Committee approved S. 1088, Federal
Agency Customer Experience Act of 2017. That bill is substantially
similar to S. 1275. Accordingly, this committee report is in large part
a reproduction of Chairman Johnson's committee report for S. 1088, S.
Rep. No. 115-156.
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II. Background and the Need for Legislation
Originally passed in 1980\2\ and later amended in 1995\3\,
the PRA is intended to, in part, ``minimize the paperwork
burden for individuals'' and entities that interact with the
Federal Government and to ``improve the quality and use of
Federal information to strengthen decisionmaking,
accountability, and openness in Government and society.''\4\
This law assigns to the Director of OMB responsibility for the
``collection of information and the control of paperwork,''\5\
which includes responsibility for ``review[ing] and approv[ing]
proposed agency collections of information.''\6\ The PRA
outlines an explicit process and criteria whereby agencies\7\
undertake certain steps to justify, quantify the impact of, and
submit for approval any proposed information collection; OMB is
responsible for timely review of such proposals, coordination
across agencies, establishment of government-wide standards and
guidelines, and ``minimiz[ing] the Federal information
collection burden, with particular emphasis on those
individuals and entities most adversely affected.''\8\
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\2\Pub. L. No. 96-511, 94 Stat. 2812.
\3\Pub. L. 104-13, 109 Stat. 163.
\4\44 U.S.C. Sec. 3501 (1) and (4).
\5\44 U.S.C. Sec. 3504(c).
\6\44 U.S.C. Sec. 3504(c)(1).
\7\The scope of agencies under this law include both those commonly
understood to be Executive agencies as well as independent regulatory
commissions, as defined in 44 U.S.C. Sec. 3502 (referenced in Section 3
of the PRA).
\8\44 U.S.C. Sec. 3504(c).
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S. 1275 seeks to encourage agencies to collect voluntary
feedback about the quality and perceptions of their services
and interactions with the public by exempting a proscribed
survey instrument from the review requirements under the PRA.
According to the 2018 American Customer Satisfaction Index, the
Federal Government ranks among the bottom of all American
industries in customer satisfaction.\9\ In the 2015 edition of
that same survey, the Federal Government received its lowest
score since 1999, when the survey was first introduced.\10\ The
bill aims to facilitate the gathering of useful and timely
customer satisfaction information to encourage continuous
improvement of agency customer service.
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\9\The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) is a national,
cross-industry measure of customer satisfaction in the United States.
In the 2018 ACSI, the aggregated score for ``Federal Government'' is
68.9, which is among the bottom four aggregate benchmark scores for all
industries. See American Customer Satisfaction Index, ``ACSI Benchmarks
for U.S. Federal Government 2018,'' available at http://
www.theacsi.org/acsi-benchmarks-for-u-s-federal-government-2018
(accessed May 20, 2019), and American Customer Satisfaction Index,
Benchmarks by Industry: All Industries, available at http://
www.theacsi.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=
article&id=147&catid=&Itemid=212&i=all&sort=Y2018 (accessed May 20,
2019).
\10\American Customer Satisfaction Index, ACSI Federal Government
Report 2018, 1 (Jan. 29, 2019) available at https://www.theacsi.org/
images/stories/images/govsatscores/19jan-Gov-report-2018.pdf (accessed
on May 20, 2019).
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The surveys permitted under S. 1275 consist of a limited
set of questions developed by the Director of OMB, in
consultation with the Administrator of General Services (and
additional questions developed by the agency). The solicitation
to participate in a survey is to be conducted at the point of
service. Surveys are to be entirely voluntary and respondents
to them are to remain anonymous. Individuals who decline to
respond are not to be treated differently by agencies for the
purposes of providing services or information. The results of
data collected pursuant to S. 1275 will be made public in
aggregated form through regular agency reports and a
centralized website established by the Director of OMB.
III. Legislative History
Senator Margaret Hassan (D-NH) introduced S. 1275 on May 1,
2019, with Senator James Lankford (R-OK). The bill was referred
to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
The Committee considered S. 1275 at a May 15, 2019 business
meeting.
The Committee ordered S. 1275 reported favorably on May 15,
2019, by voice vote en bloc. Senators present for the vote were
Senators Johnson, Paul, Lankford, Scott, Peters, Carper,
Hassan, and Rosen. For the record only, Senators Portman,
Romney, Hawley, and Sinema later asked to be recorded as
``yes'' by unanimous consent.
Consistent with Committee Rule 11, the Committee reports
the bill with a technical amendment by mutual agreement of the
Chairman and Ranking Member.
IV. Section-by-Section Analysis of the Bill, as Reported
Section 1. Short title
This section provides the bill's short title, the ``Federal
Agency Customer Experience Act of 2019.''
Section 2. Findings; sense of Congress
This section contains several findings summarized as
follows: (1) ``the Federal Government . . . should seek to
continually improve public services . . . based on customer
feedback''; (2) the public deserves efficient and effective
Federal Government services; (3) many Federal Government
entities ``provide excellent service'' while others ``fall
short''; (4) ``the Federal Government ranks among the bottom of
all industries in the United States in customer satisfaction'';
(5) excellent service increases public confidence in the
government; (6) improvement in customer service ``requires
agencies to work across organizational boundaries, leverage
technology, collect and share standardized data, and develop
customer-centered mindsets and strategies.''
This section also contains a sense of Congress that (1)
agencies should strive to provide the highest quality of
services to the public they serve, using feedback to better
understand and measure quality; and (2) sufficient funding
levels are needed to support adequate staffing.
Section 3. Definitions
This section defines the terms ``Administrator'',
``Agency'', ``Covered Agency'', ``Director'', and ``Voluntary
Feedback''.
Section 4. Application of the Paperwork Reduction Act to collection of
voluntary feedback
This section amends the PRA to add a new definition for the
term ``voluntary feedback''.
This section also amends the PRA to add collection of
voluntary feedback to the exemptions to the PRA's requirements
for OMB review of agency information collections.
Section 5. Guidelines for voluntary feedback
This section outlines several requirements that apply to
agencies that solicit voluntary feedback: (1) responses must be
anonymous and ``not be traced to specific individuals or
entities''; (2) declinations to participate will not lead to
differential treatment; (3) solicitations are limited to 10
questions; (4) ``the voluntary nature of the solicitation is
clear''; (5) ``proposed solicitation[s] . . . will contribute
to improved customer service''; (6) solicitations are limited
to once per interaction; (7) ``to the extent practicable, the
solicitation of voluntary feedback is made at the point of
service''; (8) ``instruments for collecting voluntary feedback
are accessible to individuals with disabilities in accordance
with section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973''; and (9)
``internal agency data governance policies remain in effect.''
Section 6. Customer experience data collection
Subsection (a) stipulates the requirement that the ``head
of each covered agency (or a designee), assisted by and in
coordination with the senior accountable official for customer
service . . . shall collect voluntary feedback with respect to
services of or transactions with the covered agency.''
Subsection (b) describes the development and required
content of questions contained in voluntary feedback
solicitations, which shall be a standardized set of questions
developed by ``[t]he Director [of OMB], in coordination with
the Administrator [of General Services].'' The questions should
address: (1) ``overall satisfaction . . . with the specific
interaction or service''; (2) ``the extent to which [they] were
able to accomplish their intended . . . purpose''; (3)
``whether [they] were treated with respect and professionalism;
(4) timeliness of the service; and (5) ``any additional metrics
as determined by the Director [of OMB], in coordination with
the Administrator [of General Services].'' The ``senior
accountable official for customer service'' may supplement
these questions with agency or program-specific questions.
Subsection (c) stipulates that, ``[t]o the extent
practicable,'' voluntary feedback will take place ``across all
platforms or channels'' through which the agency delivers
information or services and that the collection is tied to a
specific interaction.
Subsection (d) describes reporting requirements related to
collection of voluntary feedback. Within one year of this Act's
enactment and at least annually thereafter, covered agencies
must publish on their website and ``submit to the Director [of
OMB] . . . a report that includes the voluntary feedback
required to be collected.'' Further, the Director of OMB shall
establish, ``include and maintain on a publicly available
website links to the information provided on the [agency]
websites.'' Additionally, ``[e]ach covered agency shall
publish, on a regular basis, an aggregated report on the
solicitation of voluntary feedback . . . which shall include:''
(1) ``the intended purpose of each solicitation;'' (2) ``the
appropriate point of contact within each covered agency for
each solicitation;'' (3) ``the questions or survey instrument''
used; and (4) ``a description of how the covered agency uses
the voluntary feedback . . . to improve customer service.''
Section. 7. Customer experience report
This section requires the Comptroller General of the United
States to submit a report ``assessing the quality of services
provided to the public'' to the Committee and the House of
Representatives Committee on Oversight and Reform within 15
months after the bill is enacted and every two years thereafter
for 10 years.
Section 8. Restriction on use of information
This section clarifies that information gathered pursuant
this bill ``may not be used in any appraisal of job performance
of a Federal employee.''
V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact
Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 11(b) of rule
XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee has
considered the regulatory impact of this bill and determined
that the bill will have no regulatory impact within the meaning
of the rules. The Committee agrees with the Congressional
Budget Office's statement that the bill contains no
intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) and would impose no costs
on state, local, or tribal governments.
VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, June 4, 2019.
Hon. Ron Johnson,
Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, U.S.
Senate, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 1275, the Federal
Agency Customer Experience Act of 2019.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Matthew
Pickford.
Sincerely,
Phillip L. Swagel,
Director.
Enclosure.
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
S. 1275 would make it easier for agencies to solicit
feedback about agency services from the people or customers
that it serves. Under the bill agencies would collect
information from customers using standard questions developed
by the Office of Management and Budget and the General Services
Administration. The bill also would require agencies to post
the responses to those questions online, use the responses to
improve their services, and establish a website that would link
to agency reports on customer services. Finally, the bill would
require the Government Accountability Office to prepare an
annual report on the quality of customer service provided by
federal agencies.
Most provisions of the bill would expand on current law,
policies, and practices of the federal government. The
President's Management Agenda and Gears of Government Award
program already encourages customer service improvements. In
addition, the Government Performance and Results Act and the
Government Performance and Results Modernization Act require
agencies to improve customer service performance. Because those
initiatives are ongoing and the bill's new reporting
requirements are not significantly different from current
requirements, CBO estimates that implementing the bill would
have no significant cost.
Enacting S. 1275 could affect direct spending by agencies
that use fees, receipts from the sale of goods, and other
collections to cover operating costs. Because most of those
agencies can adjust the amounts they collect as operating costs
change, CBO estimates that any net changes in direct spending
by those agencies would be negligible.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Matthew
Pickford. The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss,
Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.
VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported
In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by
S. 1275 as reported are shown as follows (existing law proposed
to be omitted is enclosed in brackets, new matter is printed in
italic, and existing law in which no change is proposed is
shown in roman):
UNITED STATES CODE
* * * * * * *
TITLE 44--PUBLIC PRINTING AND DOCUMENTS
* * * * * * *
CHAPTER 35--COORDINATION OF FEDERAL INFORMATION POLICY
* * * * * * *
Subchapter I--Federal Information Policy
* * * * * * *
SEC. 3502. DEFINITIONS
(1) * * *
* * * * * * *
(22) * * *
(A) * * *
* * * * * * *
(D) report to third parties, the Federal
Government, or the public regarding such
records; [and]
(23) the term ``penalty'' includes the imposition by
an agency or court of a fine or other punishment; a
judgment for monetary damages or equitable relief; or
the revocation, suspension, reduction, or denial of a
license, privilege, right, grant, or benefit[.]; and
(24) the term ``voluntary feedback'' means any
submission of information, opinion, or concern that
is--
(A) voluntarily made by a specific individual
or other entity relating to a particular
service of or transaction with an agency; and
(B) specifically solicited by that agency.
* * * * * * *
SEC. 3518. EFFECT ON EXISTING LAWS AND REGULATIONS
(a) * * *
(b) * * *
(c) * * *
(1) * * *
(A) * * *
(B) * * *
(C) by compulsory process pursuant to the
Antitrust Civil Process Act and section 13 of
the Federal Trade Commission Improvements Act
of 1980; [or]
(D) during the conduct of intelligence
activities as defined in section 3.4(e) of
Executive Order No. 12333, issued December 4,
1981, or successor orders, or during the
conduct of cryptologic activities that are
communications security activities[.]; or
(E) by an agency that is voluntary feedback.
[all]
