[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1275 Engrossed in Senate (ES)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1275

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
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 2019''.

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 2018 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--
            (1) 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; and
            (2) adequate Federal funding is needed to ensure agency 
        staffing levels that can provide the public with appropriate 
        customer service levels.

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 for purposes of 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, as amended by section 202(a) of the 
        Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 (Public 
        Law 115-435)--
                    (A) in paragraph (22), by striking ``and'' at the 
                end;
                    (B) in paragraph (23), by striking the period at 
                the end and inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(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.''; 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 ``; or''; 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 and entities 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 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 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 on the voluntary feedback required 
                to be collected under this section that includes--
                            (i) the detailed results, including a 
                        summary of how individuals and entities 
                        responded to each question;
                            (ii) the total number of survey responses; 
                        and
                            (iii) the response rate for each survey 
                        administered.
                    (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 REPORT.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 15 months after the date on which 
all covered agencies have submitted the first annual reports to the 
Director required under section 6(d)(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 published 
        by covered agencies under section 6(d); and
            (2) a description of how each covered agency will use the 
        voluntary feedback received by the covered agency to improve 
        service delivery.

SEC. 8. RESTRICTION ON USE OF INFORMATION.

    Any information collected pursuant to this Act, or any amendment 
made by this Act, may not be used in any appraisal of job performance 
of a Federal employee under chapter 43 of title 5, United States Code, 
or any other provision of law.

            Passed the Senate July 25, 2019.

            Attest:

                                                             Secretary.
116th CONGRESS

  1st Session

                                S. 1275

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT

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