II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2866 

To improve the customer experience of the Federal Government, ensure that 

Federal services are simple, seamless, and secure, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 20, 2023 

Mr. PETERS (for himself, Mr. LANKFORD, and Mr. CORNYN) introduced the 

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

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To improve the customer experience of the Federal Government, ensure that Federal services are simple, seamless, 

and secure, 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 ‘‘Improving Government 

5 Services Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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

2 meaning given the term ‘‘Executive agency’’ in sec3 tion 105 of title 5, United States Code. 

4 (2) CUSTOMER.—The term ‘‘customer’’ means 

5 any individual, business, or organization, including a 

6 grantee and a State, local, or Tribal entity, that 

7 interacts with an agency or program, either directly 

8 or through a federally funded program administered 

9 by a contractor, nonprofit organization, or other 

10 Federal entity. 

11 (3) CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE.—The term ‘‘cus12 tomer experience’’ means, with respect to a member 

13 of the public, the general perception of and the over14 all satisfaction with interactions with an agency or 

15 a product or service of the agency. 

16 (4) CX ACTION PLAN.—The term ‘‘CX Action 

17 Plan’’ means the annual customer experience action 

18 plan described in section 3. 

19 (5) DESIGNATED ENTITY.—The term ‘‘des20 ignated entity’’ means an agency or high-impact 

21 service provider designated by the Director under 

22 section 3(a). 

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

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


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1 (7) HIGH-IMPACT SERVICE PROVIDER.—The 

2 term ‘‘high-impact service provider’’ means a Fed3 eral entity, as designated by the Director, that pro4 vides or funds customer-facing services, including 

5 Federal services administered at the State or local 

6 level, that have a high impact on the public, whether 

7 because of a large customer base or a critical effect 

8 on those served. 

9 (8) HUMAN-CENTERED DESIGN.—The term 

10 ‘‘human-centered design’’ means an interdisciplinary 

11 methodology of putting individuals, including those 

12 who will use or be impacted by a product or service, 

13 at the center of any process to solve challenging 

14 problems. 

15 (9) SERVICE DELIVERY.—The term ‘‘service de16 livery’’ means any actions by the Federal Govern17 ment relating to the provision of a benefit or service 

18 to a customer of an agency during each stage of the 

19 process of delivering the benefit or service to the 

20 customer, including— 

21 (A) an application, renewal, or extension 

22 by a customer for a benefit or loan, including 

23 health services for veterans and a small busi24 ness loan; 


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1 (B) receipt by a customer of a service, in2 cluding— 

3 (i) health care or small business coun4 seling; and 

5 (ii) guidance to support commerce, 

6 transportation, employment rules, work7 place safety, or public safety, including re8 lating to ensuring clean water and con9 sumer protection services; 

10 (C) a request or renewal by a customer for 

11 a document or other item, including a passport, 

12 driver’s license, or Social Security card; 

13 (D) a submission by a customer of a Fed14 eral tax return; 

15 (E) a declaration of goods by a customer; 

16 (F) use by a customer of recreation re17 sources and public spaces, including a park, his18 torical site, or museum; 

19 (G) a request by a customer for informa20 tion, including a notice, warning, or guidance 

21 about public health, safety, consumer protec22 tion, commerce, transportation, environment, 

23 employment, and workplace safety; and 

24 (H) a request by a customer for, or use by 

25 a customer of, data and research, including for 


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1 applying for funding, conducting research, 

2 maintaining and preserving artifacts, and col3 lecting, analyzing, reporting, and sharing data. 

4 (10) VOLUNTARY CUSTOMER FEEDBACK.—The 

5 term ‘‘voluntary customer feedback’’ means the sub6 mission by a customer of information, an opinion, 

7 appreciation, or a concern following an interaction 

8 with an agency and relating to the interaction with 

9 the agency that is— 

10 (A) solicited by the agency and identified 

11 as voluntary at the time of solicitation; and 

12 (B) is voluntarily made by the customer. 

13 SEC. 3. COMPREHENSIVE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE ACTION 

14 PLAN. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

16 (1) DESIGNATION.—Not later than 1 year after 

17 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall 

18 designate agencies and high-impact service providers 

19 to develop an annual customer experience action 

20 plan. 

21 (2) SUBMISSION OF CX ACTION PLANS.—Not 

22 later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 

23 Act, and annually thereafter, at a time determined 

24 by the Director, the head of each designated entity 

25 shall submit to the Director and to Congress and 


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1 make publicly available the CX Action Plan of the 

2 designated entity. 

3 (b) CX ACTION PLAN CONTENTS.—The CX Action 

4 Plan of a designated entity shall include— 

5 (1) a comprehensive customer experience strat6 egy and corresponding implementation actions that 

7 adopt leading human-centered design practices that 

8 include— 

9 (A) conducting outreach to the public 

10 about the public services provided by the des11 ignated entity; 

12 (B) providing assistance to members of the 

13 public enrolling in or navigating the services of 

14 the designated entity; 

15 (C) streamlining and improving the acces16 sibility of forms and digital experiences and en17 suring the accessibility of services for customers 

18 with disabilities or limited English proficiency; 

19 (D) eliminating unnecessary administrative 

20 burdens on customers; 

21 (E) engaging in efforts to coordinate with 

22 other agencies to reduce the need for customers 

23 served by the designated entity to interact sepa24 rately with multiple agencies; 


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1 (F) preventing fraud and improving fraud 

2 and spam reporting capabilities; and 

3 (G) incorporating best practices from the 

4 private sector, including providing online serv5 ices, telephone call-back services, and training 

6 to employees who provide customer service; 

7 (2) information on the average amount of time 

8 it takes the designated entity to resolve a customer 

9 request and an identification and assessment of any 

10 backlog issues for key designated entity services, in11 cluding the resolution of requests for passport serv12 ices, veteran records, determinations of Social Secu13 rity benefits, the processing of applications for Fed14 eral retirement benefits, and other similar services; 

15 (3) an assessment of opportunities for the des16 ignated entity to— 

17 (A) co-locate the services of the designated 

18 entity with other Federal services, where appro19 priate and in response to demonstrated cus20 tomer needs; 

21 (B) increase the use of digital channels 

22 and self-service options, while ensuring efficient 

23 multi-channel offerings, in accordance with the 

24 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act 

25 (44 U.S.C. 3501 note); and 


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1 (C) increase the quantity and improve the 

2 quality of protections for personally identifiable 

3 information in customer data; 

4 (4) actions to build the capacity of the des5 ignated entity to deliver leading services and manage 

6 customer experience, including updating guidance 

7 and training materials for employees of the des8 ignated entity; 

9 (5) specific proposals to improve customer expe10 rience and service delivery, including— 

11 (A) progress on the delivery of the CX Ac12 tion Plan of the fiscal year in which the CX Ac13 tion plan is submitted against the commitments 

14 of the CX Action Plan of the prior fiscal year, 

15 including the performance of priority services 

16 (including wait and processing times, customer 

17 feedback, and the information described in 

18 paragraph (3)); and 

19 (B) plans for the fiscal year following the 

20 submission of the CX Action Plan; and 

21 (6) the medium- and long-term customer expe22 rience strategies of the designated entity, includ23 ing— 


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1 (A) plans for the period of 3 to 5 fiscal 

2 years following the fiscal year of the submission 

3 of the CX Action Plan; and 

4 (B) plans for the period of 5 to 10 fiscal 

5 years following the fiscal year of the submission 

6 of the CX Action Plan. 

7 (c) EXISTING GUIDANCE.—In developing the CX Ac8 tion Plan, each designated entity shall adhere to existing 

9 and additional guidance provided by the Director. 

10 SEC. 4. OVERSIGHT AND ANNUAL REPORT. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall— 

12 (1) ensure designated entity compliance with 

13 this Act; 

14 (2) facilitate sharing of leading practices be15 tween designated entities; and 

16 (3) review the comprehensive CX Action Plans 

17 of designated entities for consistency with existing 

18 customer experience guidance. 

19 (b) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after 

20 the submission of all CX Action Plans under section 3(a), 

21 and annually thereafter, the Director shall make public 

22 recommendations for opportunities to streamline or co-lo23 cate critical Federal services. 

Æ 


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