II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1088 

To require the collection of voluntary feedback on services provided by 

agencies, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 10, 2017 

Mrs. MCCASKILL (for herself and Mr. LANKFORD) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland 

Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To require the collection of voluntary feedback on services 

provided by agencies, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Agency Cus5 tomer Experience Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

8 (1) the Federal Government serves the people 

9 of the United States and should seek to continually 


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1 improve public services provided by the Federal Gov2 ernment based on customer feedback; 

3 (2) the people of the United States deserve a 

4 Federal Government that provides efficient, effec5 tive, and high-quality services across multiple chan6 nels; 

7 (3) many agencies, offices, programs, and Fed8 eral employees provide excellent service to individ9 uals, however many parts of the Federal Govern10 ment still fall short on delivering the customer serv11 ice experience that individuals have come to expect 

12 from the private sector; 

13 (4) according to the 2016 American Customer 

14 Satisfaction Index, the Federal Government ranks 

15 among the bottom of all industries in the United 

16 States in customer satisfaction; 

17 (5) providing quality services to individuals im18 proves the confidence of the people of the United 

19 States in their government and helps agencies 

20 achieve greater impact and fulfill their missions; and 

21 (6) improving service to individuals requires 

22 agencies to work across organizational boundaries, 

23 leverage technology, collect and share standardized 

24 data, and develop customer-centered mindsets and 

25 service strategies. 


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1 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con2 gress that all agencies should strive to provide high-qual3 ity, courteous, effective, and efficient services to the people 

4 of the United States and seek to measure, collect, report, 

5 and utilize metrics relating to the experience of individuals 

6 interacting with agencies to continually improve services 

7 to the people of the United States. 

8 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this Act: 

10 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis11 trator’’ means the Administrator of General Serv12 ices. 

13 (2) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ has the 

14 meaning given the term in section 3502 of title 44, 

15 United States Code. 

16 (3) COVERED AGENCY.—The term ‘‘covered 

17 agency’’ means an agency or component of an agen18 cy that is required by the Director to collect vol19 untary feedback under section 6, based on an assess20 ment of the components and programs of the agency 

21 with the highest impact on or number of interactions 

22 with individuals or entities. 

23 (4) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

24 the Director of the Office of Management and Budg25 et. 


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1 (5) VOLUNTARY FEEDBACK.—The term ‘‘vol2 untary feedback’’ has the meaning given the term in 

3 section 3502 of title 44, United States Code, as 

4 added by section 4 of this Act. 

5 SEC. 4. APPLICATION OF THE PAPERWORK REDUCTION 

6 ACT TO COLLECTION OF VOLUNTARY FEED7 BACK. 

8 Subchapter I of chapter 35 of title 44, United States 

9 Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Paperwork Reduction 

10 Act’’), is amended— 

11 (1) in section 3502— 

12 (A) in paragraph (13)(D), by striking 

13 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

14 (B) in paragraph (14), by striking the pe15 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

16 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(15) the term ‘voluntary feedback’ means any 

18 submission of information, opinion, or concern that 

19 is— 

20 ‘‘(A) voluntarily made by a specific indi21 vidual or other entity relating to a particular 

22 service of or transaction with an agency; and 

23 ‘‘(B) specifically solicited by that agency.’’; 

24 and 

25 (2) in section 3518(c)(1)— 


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1 (A) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘or’’ 

2 at the end; 

3 (B) in subparagraph (D), by striking the 

4 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

5 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(E) by an agency that is voluntary feedback.’’. 

7 SEC. 5. GUIDELINES FOR VOLUNTARY FEEDBACK. 

8 Each agency that solicits voluntary feedback shall en9 sure that— 

10 (1) responses to the solicitation of voluntary 

11 feedback remain anonymous and shall not be traced 

12 to specific individuals or entities; 

13 (2) individuals who decline to participate in the 

14 solicitation of voluntary feedback shall not be treated 

15 differently by the agency for purposes of providing 

16 services or information; 

17 (3) the solicitation does not include more than 

18 10 questions; 

19 (4) the voluntary nature of the solicitation is 

20 clear; 

21 (5) the proposed solicitation of voluntary feed22 back will contribute to improved customer service; 

23 (6) solicitations of voluntary feedback are lim24 ited to 1 solicitation per interaction with an indi25 vidual or entity; 


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1 (7) to the extent practicable, the solicitation of 

2 voluntary feedback is made at the point of service 

3 with an individual or entity; 

4 (8) instruments for collecting voluntary feed5 back are accessible to individuals with disabilities in 

6 accordance with section 508 of the Rehabilitation 

7 Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d); and 

8 (9) internal agency data governance policies re9 main in effect with respect to the collection of vol10 untary feedback from individuals and entities. 

11 SEC. 6. CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE DATA COLLECTION. 

12 (a) COLLECTION OF RESPONSES.—The head of each 

13 covered agency (or a designee), assisted by and in coordi14 nation with the Chief Performance Officer or other senior 

15 accountable official for customer service of the covered 

16 agency, shall collect voluntary feedback with respect to 

17 services of or transactions with the covered agency. 

18 (b) CONTENT OF QUESTIONS.— 

19 (1) STANDARDIZED QUESTIONS.—The Director, 

20 in coordination with the Administrator, shall develop 

21 a set of standardized questions for use by covered 

22 agencies in collecting voluntary feedback under this 

23 section that address— 


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1 (A) overall satisfaction of individuals or 

2 entities with the specific interaction or service 

3 received; 

4 (B) the extent to which individuals or enti5 ties were able to accomplish their intended task 

6 or purpose; 

7 (C) whether the individual or entity was 

8 treated with respect and professionalism; 

9 (D) whether the individual or entity be10 lieves they were served in a timely manner; and 

11 (E) any additional metrics as determined 

12 by the Director, in coordination with the Ad13 ministrator. 

14 (2) ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS.—In addition to 

15 the questions developed under paragraph (1), the 

16 Chief Performance Officer or other senior account17 able official for customer service at a covered agency 

18 may develop questions relevant to the specific oper19 ations or programs of the covered agency. 

20 (c) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—To the extent 

21 practicable— 

22 (1) each covered agency shall collect voluntary 

23 feedback across all platforms or channels through 

24 which the covered agency interacts with individuals 


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1 or other entities to deliver information or services; 

2 and 

3 (2) voluntary feedback collected under this sec4 tion shall be tied to specific transactions or inter5 actions with customers of the covered agency. 

6 (d) REPORTS.— 

7 (1) ANNUAL REPORT TO THE DIRECTOR.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 

9 after the date of enactment of this Act, and not 

10 less frequently than annually thereafter, each 

11 covered agency shall publish on the website of 

12 the covered agency and submit to the Director, 

13 in a manner determined by the Director, a re14 port that includes the voluntary feedback re15 quired to be collected under this section. 

16 (B) CENTRALIZED WEBSITE.—The Direc17 tor shall— 

18 (i) include and maintain on a publicly 

19 available website links to the information 

20 provided on the websites of covered agen21 cies under subparagraph (A); and 

22 (ii) for purposes of clause (i), estab23 lish a website or make use of an existing 

24 website, such as the website required under 


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1 section 1122 of title 31, United States 

2 Code. 

3 (2) AGGREGATED REPORT.—Each covered 

4 agency shall publish, on a regular basis, an aggre5 gated report on the solicitation of voluntary feedback 

6 sent to individuals or entities, which shall include— 

7 (A) the intended purpose of each solicita8 tion of voluntary feedback conducted by the 

9 covered agency; 

10 (B) the appropriate point of contact within 

11 each covered agency for each solicitation of vol12 untary feedback conducted; 

13 (C) the questions or survey instrument 

14 submitted to members of the public as part of 

15 the solicitation of voluntary information; and 

16 (D) a description of how the covered agen17 cy uses the voluntary feedback received by the 

18 covered agency to improve the customer service 

19 of the covered agency. 

20 SEC. 7. CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE SCORECARD REPORT. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 15 months after 

22 the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter 

23 for 10 years, the Comptroller General of the United States 

24 shall make publicly available and submit to the Committee 

25 on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 


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1 Senate and the Committee on Oversight and Government 

2 Reform of the House of Representatives a scorecard report 

3 assessing the quality of services provided to the public by 

4 each covered agency. 

5 (b) CONTENTS.—The report required under sub6 section (a) shall include— 

7 (1) a summary of the information required to 

8 be published by covered agencies under section 6(d); 

9 and 

10 (2) an analysis of administrative and legislative 

11 barriers to improving service delivery by covered 

12 agencies. 

Æ 


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