Federal Agency Customer Experience Act of 2017

Summary: Federal Agency Customer Experience Act of 2017 This bill exempts an agency's authority to collect information that is voluntary feedback from the federal information resources management activities authority of the the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act. &quot;Voluntary feedback&quot; is defined as any submission of information, opinion, or concern that is: (1) voluntarily made by a specific individual or entity relating to a particular service of or transaction with an agency, and (2) specifically solicited by that agency. Each agency that solicits voluntary feedback shall ensure that:   responses to the solicitation remain anonymous,  individuals who decline to participate shall not be treated differently by the agency for purposes of providing services or information,  the voluntary nature of the solicitation is clear, and   the proposed solicitation of voluntary feedback will contribute to improved customer service.  Each agency shall: (1) collect voluntary feedback with respect to its services and transactions, (2) annually publish such feedback on its website and report on such feedback to OMB, and (3) publish aggregated reports on the solicitation of such feedback.  OMB shall: (1) develop a set of standardized questions for use by agencies in collecting such feedback on service satisfaction, timeliness, and professionalism; and (2) include and maintain on a publicly available website links to the information provided on the agency websites. The Government Accountability Office shall make publicly available and submit to Congress a scorecard report assessing the quality of services provided to the public by each agency.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Federal Agency Customer Experience 
Act of 2018''.

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 designated as a 
        ``covered agency'' pursuant to section 5(a).
            (4) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of 
        the Office of Management and Budget.
            (5) Voluntary customer service feedback.--The term 
        ``voluntary customer service feedback'' means a response to a 
        collection of information conducted by a covered agency in 
        accordance with this Act.

SEC. 4. APPLICATION OF CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF THE PAPERWORK REDUCTION 
              ACT TO COLLECTION OF VOLUNTARY CUSTOMER SERVICE FEEDBACK.

    Sections 3506(c) and 3507 of title 44, United States Code 
(provisions of what is commonly known as the ``Paperwork Reduction 
Act'') shall not apply to a collection of voluntary customer service 
feedback.

SEC. 5. GUIDELINES FOR VOLUNTARY CUSTOMER SERVICE FEEDBACK.

    (a) Evaluation and Designation.--The Director shall assess 
agencies, agency components, and agency programs to identify which have 
the highest impact on or number of interactions with individuals or 
entities. Based on the assessment, the Director shall designate 
agencies, agency components, or programs as covered agencies for 
purposes of this Act.
    (b) Guidance.--The Director shall issue guidance that requires each 
covered agency that solicits voluntary customer service feedback to 
ensure that--
            (1) any response to the solicitation of voluntary customer 
        service feedback remains anonymous, the collection method does 
        not include a request for or opportunity for the respondent to 
        provide information that could identify such respondent, and 
        any response is not traced to a specific individual or entity;
            (2) any individual or entity who declines to participate in 
        the solicitation of voluntary customer service 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 collection of voluntary customer service feedback 
        is only used to improve customer service and will not be used 
        for any other purpose;
            (6) any solicitation of voluntary customer service feedback 
        is limited to 1 solicitation per interaction with an individual 
        or entity;
            (7) to the extent practicable, the solicitation of 
        voluntary customer service feedback is made at the point of 
        service with an individual or entity;
            (8) any instrument for collecting voluntary customer 
        service feedback is 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 
        service feedback from any individual or entity.

SEC. 6. CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE DATA COLLECTION.

    (a) Collection of Responses.--The head of each covered agency (or a 
designee), assisted by and in consultation with the Performance 
Improvement Officer or other senior accountable official for customer 
service of the covered agency, shall collect voluntary customer service 
feedback with respect to any service of or transaction with the covered 
agency that has been identified by the Director, in consultation with 
the Administrator, in accordance with the guidance issued by the 
Director under section 5.
    (b) Content of Questions.--
            (1) Standardized questions.--The Director, in consultation 
        with the Administrator, shall develop a set of standardized 
        questions for use by each covered agency in collecting 
        voluntary customer service 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 consultation with the Administrator.
            (2) Additional questions.--In addition to the questions 
        developed pursuant to paragraph (1), the Director shall consult 
        with the Performance Improvement Council to develop additional 
        questions relevant to the operations or programs of covered 
        agencies.
    (c) Additional Requirements.--To the extent practicable--
            (1) each covered agency shall collect voluntary customer 
        service 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 customer service 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 the 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--
                            (i) a report that includes--
                                    (I) the voluntary customer service 
                                feedback for the previous year; and
                                    (II) descriptions of how the 
                                covered agency has used and plans to 
                                use such feedback; and
                            (ii) a machine readable dataset that 
                        includes--
                                    (I) the the standardized questions 
                                or additional questions described in 
                                subsection (b) and the response choices 
                                for such questions; and
                                    (II) the response rate for each 
                                collection of voluntary customer 
                                service feedback for the previous year.
                    (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 
        in an electronic format and update on a regular basis an 
        aggregated report on the solicitation and use of voluntary 
        customer service feedback, which shall include--
                    (A) the intended purpose of each solicitation of 
                voluntary customer service feedback conducted by the 
                covered agency;
                    (B) the appropriate point of contact within each 
                covered agency for each solicitation of voluntary 
                customer service feedback conducted;
                    (C) the questions or survey instrument submitted to 
                members of the public as part of the solicitation of 
                voluntary customer service feedback; and
                    (D) a description of how the covered agency uses 
                the voluntary customer service 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 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 Government Reform of the 
House of Representatives a scorecard report assessing the data 
collected and reported by the covered agencies and each instrument used 
to collect voluntary customer service feedback.
    (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);
            (2) a description of how each covered agency plans to use 
        and has used the voluntary customer service feedback received 
        by the covered agency; and
            (3) an evaluation of each covered agency's compliance with 
        this Act.

SEC. 8. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that adequate Federal funding is needed 
to ensure agency staffing levels that can provide the public with 
appropriate customer service levels.

            Passed the House of Representatives November 29, 2018.

            Attest:

                                                 KAREN L. HAAS,

                                                                 Clerk.