[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2846 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2846

To require the collection of voluntary feedback on services provided by 
                   agencies, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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 2017''.

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;
            (5) providing quality services 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 service strategies.
    (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.

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 feedback under section 6, 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 feedback.--The term ``voluntary feedback'' 
        has the meaning given the term in section 3502 of title 44, 
        United States Code, as added by section 4 of this Act.

SEC. 4. APPLICATION OF THE PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT TO COLLECTION OF 
              VOLUNTARY FEEDBACK.

    Subchapter I of chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code 
(commonly known as the ``Paperwork Reduction Act''), is amended--
            (1) in section 3502--
                    (A) in paragraph (13)(D), by striking ``and'' at 
                the end;
                    (B) in paragraph (14), by striking the period at 
                the end and inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(15) 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.''; and
            (2) in section 3518(c)(1)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``or'' at the 
                end;
                    (B) in subparagraph (D), by striking the period at 
                the end and inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(E) by an agency that is voluntary feedback.''.

SEC. 5. GUIDELINES FOR VOLUNTARY FEEDBACK.

    Each agency that solicits voluntary feedback shall ensure that--
            (1) responses to the solicitation of voluntary feedback 
        remain anonymous and shall not be traced to specific 
        individuals or entities;
            (2) individuals who decline to participate in the 
        solicitation of voluntary feedback shall not be treated 
        differently by the agency for purposes of providing services or 
        information;
            (3) the solicitation does not include more than 10 
        questions;
            (4) the voluntary nature of the solicitation is clear;
            (5) the proposed solicitation of voluntary feedback will 
        contribute to improved customer service;
            (6) solicitations of voluntary feedback are limited to 1 
        solicitation per interaction with an individual or entity;
            (7) to the extent practicable, the solicitation of 
        voluntary feedback is made at the point of service with an 
        individual or entity;
            (8) instruments for collecting voluntary 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 feedback 
        from individuals and entities.

SEC. 6. CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE DATA COLLECTION.

    (a) Collection of Responses.--The head of each covered agency (or a 
designee), assisted by and in coordination with the Chief Performance 
Officer or other senior accountable official for customer service of 
the covered agency, shall collect voluntary feedback with respect to 
services of or transactions 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 
        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 their intended task or purpose;
                    (C) whether the individual or entity was treated 
                with respect and professionalism;
                    (D) whether the individual or entity believes they 
                were served in a timely manner; and
                    (E) any additional metrics as determined by the 
                Director, in coordination with the Administrator.
            (2) Additional questions.--In addition to the questions 
        developed under paragraph (1), the Chief Performance Officer or 
        other senior accountable official for customer service at 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 feedback 
        across all platforms or channels through which the covered 
        agency interacts with individuals or other entities to deliver 
        information or services; and
            (2) voluntary feedback collected under this section shall 
        be tied to specific transactions or interactions with customers 
        of the covered agency.
    (d) Reports.--
            (1) Annual report to the director.--
                    (A) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the 
                date of 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, a report that includes the voluntary feedback 
                required to be collected under this section.
                    (B) Centralized website.--The Director shall--
                            (i) include and maintain on a publicly 
                        available website links to the information 
                        provided on the websites of covered agencies 
                        under subparagraph (A); and
                            (ii) for purposes of clause (i), establish 
                        a website or make use of an existing website, 
                        such as the website required under section 1122 
                        of title 31, United States Code.
            (2) Aggregated report.--Each covered agency shall publish, 
        on a regular basis, an aggregated report on the solicitation of 
        voluntary feedback sent to individuals or entities, which shall 
        include--
                    (A) the intended purpose of each solicitation of 
                voluntary feedback conducted by the covered agency;
                    (B) the appropriate point of contact within each 
                covered agency for each solicitation of voluntary 
                feedback conducted;
                    (C) the questions or survey instrument submitted to 
                members of the public as part of the solicitation of 
                voluntary information; and
                    (D) a description of how the covered agency uses 
                the voluntary feedback received by the covered agency 
                to improve the customer service of the covered agency.

SEC. 7. CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE SCORECARD REPORT.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 15 months after the date of 
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for 10 years, 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 
quality of services provided to the public by each covered agency.
    (b) Contents.--The report required under subsection (a) shall 
include--
            (1) a summary of the information required to be published 
        by covered agencies under section 6(d); and
            (2) an analysis of administrative and legislative barriers 
        to improving service delivery by covered agencies.
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