IIB 112th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 538 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES September 12, 2012 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs AN ACT To require the establishment of customer service standards for Federal agencies.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Government Customer Service Improvement Act.

2.

Development of performance measures and standards for customer service provided by Federal agencies

(a)

Requirement

(1)

Performance measures and standards

The Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall develop— (A)performance measures to determine whether Federal agencies are providing high-quality customer service and improving service delivery to their customers; and (B)standards to be met by Federal agencies in order to provide high-quality customer service and improve service delivery to their customers. (2)

Requirement to take into account certain information

The standards under paragraph (1) shall be developed after taking into account the information collected by Federal agencies under subsection (b). (b)

Customer service input

The head of each Federal agency shall collect information from its customers regarding the quality of customer services provided by the agency. Each Federal agency shall include this information in its performance report submitted under section 1116 of title 31, United States Code. (c)

Annual performance update

The Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall include achievements by Federal agencies in meeting customer service performance measures and standards developed under subsection (a) in each update on agency performance required under section 1116 of title 31, United States Code.

3.

Implementation of customer service standards

(a)

Customer relations representative

The head of each Federal agency shall designate an employee to be the customer relations representative of the agency. Such representative shall be responsible for implementing the customer service standards developed under section 2 and the agency requirements under subsection (b). (b)

Agency requirements

(1)

Guidelines and contact information

The head of each Federal agency, acting through its customer relations representative, shall— (A)issue guidelines to implement the customer service standards developed under section 2 within the agency, including specific principles of customer service applicable to that agency; and (B)publish customer service contact information, including a mailing address, telephone number, and e-mail address. (2)

Availability

The guidelines and the customer service contact information required under this subsection shall be available on the agency’s public website.

4.

Performance appraisal

Compliance with customer service standards developed under this Act shall be included in the performance appraisal systems referred to in sections 4302(a) and 4312 of title 5, United States Code.

5.

Definitions

In this Act: (1)The term customer, with respect to a Federal agency, means any individual or entity, including a business, State or local government, other Federal agency, or Congress, to which the agency provides services or information. (2)The term Federal agency has the meaning given the term Executive agency by section 105 of title 5, United States Code, except that the term does not include an agency if the President determines that this Act should not apply to the agency for national security reasons.

6.

Deficit reduction

Any savings or reductions in expenditures resulting from this Act shall be used to offset the costs of implementation of this Act, and any additional savings shall be used to reduce the deficit.

Passed the House of Representatives September 11, 2012. Karen L. Haas, Clerk.