II 

Calendar No. 496 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2866 

[Report No. 118–217] 

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, Mr. CORNYN, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

SEPTEMBER 10, 2024 

Reported by Mr. PETERS, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

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’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

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

4 meaning given the term ‘‘Executive agency’’ in sec5 tion 105 of title 5, United States Code. 

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

7 any individual, business, or organization, including a 

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

9 interacts with an agency or program, either directly 

10 or through a federally funded program administered 

11 by a contractor, nonprofit organization, or other 

12 Federal entity. 

13 (3) CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE.—The term ‘‘cus14 tomer experience’’ means, with respect to a member 

15 of the public, the general perception of and the over16 all satisfaction with interactions with an agency or 

17 a product or service of the agency. 

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

19 Plan’’ means the annual customer experience action 

20 plan described in section 3. 

21 (5) DESIGNATED ENTITY.—The term ‘‘des22 ignated entity’’ means an agency or high-impact 

23 service provider designated by the Director under 

24 section 3(a). 


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

2 the Director of the Office of Management and Budg3 et. 

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

5 term ‘‘high-impact service provider’’ means a Fed6 eral entity, as designated by the Director, that pro7 vides or funds customer-facing services, including 

8 Federal services administered at the State or local 

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

10 because of a large customer base or a critical effect 

11 on those served. 

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

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

14 methodology of putting individuals, including those 

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

16 at the center of any process to solve challenging 

17 problems. 

18 (9) SERVICE DELIVERY.—The term ‘‘service de19 livery’’ means any actions by the Federal Govern20 ment relating to the provision of a benefit or service 

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

22 process of delivering the benefit or service to the 

23 customer, including— 

24 (A) an application, renewal, or extension 

25 by a customer for a benefit or loan, including 


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1 health services for veterans and a small busi2 ness loan; 

3 (B) receipt by a customer of a service, in4 cluding— 

5 (i) health care or small business coun6 seling; and 

7 (ii) guidance to support commerce, 

8 transportation, employment rules, work9 place safety, or public safety, including re10 lating to ensuring clean water and con11 sumer protection services; 

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

13 a document or other item, including a passport, 

14 driver’s license, or Social Security card; 

15 (D) a submission by a customer of a Fed16 eral tax return; 

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

18 (F) use by a customer of recreation re19 sources and public spaces, including a park, his20 torical site, or museum; 

21 (G) a request by a customer for informa22 tion, including a notice, warning, or guidance 

23 about public health, safety, consumer protec24 tion, commerce, transportation, environment, 

25 employment, and workplace safety; and 


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

2 a customer of, data and research, including for 

3 applying for funding, conducting research, 

4 maintaining and preserving artifacts, and col5 lecting, analyzing, reporting, and sharing data. 

6 (10) VOLUNTARY CUSTOMER FEEDBACK.—The 

7 term ‘‘voluntary customer feedback’’ means the sub8 mission by a customer of information, an opinion, 

9 appreciation, or a concern following an interaction 

10 with an agency and relating to the interaction with 

11 the agency that is— 

12 (A) solicited by the agency and identified 

13 as voluntary at the time of solicitation; and 

14 (B) is voluntarily made by the customer. 

15 SEC. 3. COMPREHENSIVE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE ACTION 

16 PLAN. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

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

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

20 designate agencies and high-impact service providers 

21 to develop an annual customer experience action 

22 plan. 

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

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

25 Act, and annually thereafter, at a time determined 


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1 by the Director, the head of each designated entity 

2 shall submit to the Director and to Congress and 

3 make publicly available the CX Action Plan of the 

4 designated entity. 

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

6 Plan of a designated entity shall include— 

7 (1) a comprehensive customer experience strat8 egy and corresponding implementation actions that 

9 adopt leading human-centered design practices that 

10 include— 

11 (A) conducting outreach to the public 

12 about the public services provided by the des13 ignated entity; 

14 (B) providing assistance to members of the 

15 public enrolling in or navigating the services of 

16 the designated entity; 

17 (C) streamlining and improving the acces18 sibility of forms and digital experiences and en19 suring the accessibility of services for customers 

20 with disabilities or limited English proficiency; 

21 (D) eliminating unnecessary administrative 

22 burdens on customers; 

23 (E) engaging in efforts to coordinate with 

24 other agencies to reduce the need for customers 


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1 served by the designated entity to interact sepa2 rately with multiple agencies; 

3 (F) preventing fraud and improving fraud 

4 and spam reporting capabilities; and 

5 (G) incorporating best practices from the 

6 private sector, including providing online serv7 ices, telephone call-back services, and training 

8 to employees who provide customer service; 

9 (2) information on the average amount of time 

10 it takes the designated entity to resolve a customer 

11 request and an identification and assessment of any 

12 backlog issues for key designated entity services, in13 cluding the resolution of requests for passport serv14 ices, veteran records, determinations of Social Secu15 rity benefits, the processing of applications for Fed16 eral retirement benefits, and other similar services; 

17 (3) an assessment of opportunities for the des18 ignated entity to— 

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

20 entity with other Federal services, where appro21 priate and in response to demonstrated cus22 tomer needs; 

23 (B) increase the use of digital channels 

24 and self-service options, while ensuring efficient 

25 multi-channel offerings, in accordance with the 


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1 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act 

2 (44 U.S.C. 3501 note); and 

3 (C) increase the quantity and improve the 

4 quality of protections for personally identifiable 

5 information in customer data; 

6 (4) actions to build the capacity of the des7 ignated entity to deliver leading services and manage 

8 customer experience, including updating guidance 

9 and training materials for employees of the des10 ignated entity; 

11 (5) specific proposals to improve customer expe12 rience and service delivery, including— 

13 (A) progress on the delivery of the CX Ac14 tion Plan of the fiscal year in which the CX Ac15 tion plan is submitted against the commitments 

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

17 including the performance of priority services 

18 (including wait and processing times, customer 

19 feedback, and the information described in 

20 paragraph (3)); and 

21 (B) plans for the fiscal year following the 

22 submission of the CX Action Plan; and 

23 (6) the medium- and long-term customer expe24 rience strategies of the designated entity, includ25 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. 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Improving Government 

3 Services Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

6 (1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ has the mean7 ing given the term ‘‘Executive agency’’ in section 105 

8 of title 5, United States Code. 

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

10 any individual, business, or organization, including a 

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

12 interacts with an agency or program, either directly 

13 or through a federally funded program administered 

14 by a contractor, nonprofit organization, or other Fed15 eral entity. 

16 (3) CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE.—The term ‘‘cus17 tomer experience’’ means, with respect to a member of 

18 the public, the general perception of and the overall 

19 satisfaction with interactions with an agency or a 

20 product or service of the agency. 

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

22 Plan’’ means the annual customer experience action 

23 plan described in section 3. 

24 (5) DESIGNATED ENTITY.—The term ‘‘designated 

25 entity’’ means an agency or high-impact service proVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:48 Sep 11, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2866.RS S2866

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1 vider designated by the Director under section 

2 3(a)(1). 

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

4 Director of the Office of Management and Budget. 

5 (7) HIGH-IMPACT SERVICE PROVIDER.—The term 

6 ‘‘high-impact service provider’’ means a Federal enti7 ty, as designated by the Director, that provides or 

8 funds customer-facing services, including Federal 

9 services administered at the State or local level, that 

10 have a high impact on the public, whether because of 

11 a large customer base or a critical effect on those 

12 served. 

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

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

15 methodology of putting individuals, including those 

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

17 at the center of any process to solve challenging prob18 lems. 

19 (9) SERVICE DELIVERY.—The term ‘‘service de20 livery’’ means any actions by the Federal Government 

21 relating to the provision of a benefit or service to a 

22 customer of an agency during each stage of the proc23 ess of delivering the benefit or service to the customer, 

24 including— 


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1 (A) an application, renewal, or extension by 

2 a customer for a benefit or loan, including health 

3 services for veterans and a small business loan; 

4 (B) receipt by a customer of a service, in5 cluding— 

6 (i) health care or small business coun7 seling; and 

8 (ii) guidance to support commerce, 

9 transportation, employment rules, work10 place safety, or public safety, including re11 lating to ensuring clean water and con12 sumer protection services; 

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

14 a document or other item, including a passport, 

15 driver’s license, or Social Security card; 

16 (D) a submission by a customer of a Fed17 eral tax return; 

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

19 (F) use by a customer of recreation re20 sources and public spaces, including a park, his21 torical site, or museum; 

22 (G) a request by a customer for informa23 tion, including a notice, warning, or guidance 

24 about public health, safety, consumer protection, 


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1 commerce, transportation, environment, employ2 ment, and workplace safety; and 

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

4 a customer of, data and research, including for 

5 applying for funding, conducting research, 

6 maintaining and preserving artifacts, and col7 lecting, analyzing, reporting, and sharing data. 

8 (10) VOLUNTARY CUSTOMER FEEDBACK.—The 

9 term ‘‘voluntary customer feedback’’ means the sub10 mission by a customer of information, an opinion, 

11 appreciation, or a concern following an interaction 

12 with an agency and relating to the interaction with 

13 the agency that is— 

14 (A) solicited by the agency and identified as 

15 voluntary at the time of solicitation; and 

16 (B) is voluntarily made by the customer. 

17 SEC. 3. COMPREHENSIVE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE ACTION 

18 PLAN. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

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

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

22 designate agencies and high-impact service providers 

23 to develop an annual customer experience action 

24 plan. 


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

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

3 Act, and annually thereafter, at a time determined by 

4 the Director, the head of each designated entity shall 

5 submit to the Director and to Congress and make 

6 publicly available the CX Action Plan of the des7 ignated entity. 

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

9 Plan of a designated entity shall include— 

10 (1) a comprehensive customer experience strategy 

11 and corresponding implementation actions that adopt 

12 leading human-centered design practices that in13 clude— 

14 (A) conducting outreach to the public about 

15 the public services provided by the designated en16 tity; 

17 (B) providing assistance to members of the 

18 public enrolling in or navigating the services of 

19 the designated entity; 

20 (C) streamlining and improving the accessi21 bility of forms and digital experiences and en22 suring the accessibility of services for customers 

23 with disabilities or limited English proficiency; 

24 (D) eliminating unnecessary administrative 

25 burdens on customers; 


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1 (E) engaging in efforts to coordinate with 

2 other agencies to reduce the need for customers 

3 served by the designated entity to interact sepa4 rately with multiple agencies; 

5 (F) preventing fraud and improving fraud 

6 and spam reporting capabilities; 

7 (G) providing affirmative notice to cus8 tomers at the time of any interaction with a 

9 computer program designed to simulate con10 versation with human users, including through 

11 emails, phone calls, and chatbots; and 

12 (H) incorporating best practices from the 

13 private sector, including providing online serv14 ices, telephone call-back services, and training to 

15 employees who provide customer service; 

16 (2) information on the average amount of time 

17 it takes the designated entity to resolve a customer re18 quest and an identification and assessment of any 

19 backlog issues for key designated entity services, in20 cluding the resolution of requests for passport services, 

21 veteran records, determinations of Social Security 

22 benefits, the processing of applications for Federal re23 tirement benefits, and other similar services, as well 

24 as information on how the results of these customer 


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1 service metrics compare to the results in previous 

2 years; 

3 (3) an assessment of opportunities for the des4 ignated entity to— 

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

6 entity with other Federal services, where appro7 priate and in response to demonstrated customer 

8 needs; 

9 (B) increase the use of digital channels and 

10 self-service options, while ensuring efficient 

11 multi-channel offerings, in accordance with the 

12 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act 

13 (44 U.S.C. 3501 note); and 

14 (C) increase the quantity and improve the 

15 quality of protections for personally identifiable 

16 information in customer data; 

17 (4) actions to build the capacity of the des18 ignated entity to deliver leading services and manage 

19 customer experience, including updating guidance 

20 and training materials for employees of the des21 ignated entity; 

22 (5) specific proposals to improve customer expe23 rience and service delivery, including— 

24 (A) progress on the delivery of the CX Ac25 tion Plan of the fiscal year in which the CX AcVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:48 Sep 11, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2866.RS S2866

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1 tion plan is submitted against the commitments 

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

3 including the performance of priority services 

4 (including wait and processing times, customer 

5 feedback, and the information described in para6 graph (3)); and 

7 (B) plans for the fiscal year following the 

8 submission of the CX Action Plan; and 

9 (6) the medium-term and long-term customer ex10 perience strategies of the designated entity, includ11 ing— 

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

13 years following the fiscal year of the submission 

14 of the CX Action Plan; and 

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

16 years following the fiscal year of the submission 

17 of the CX Action Plan. 

18 (c) EXISTING GUIDANCE.—In developing the CX Ac19 tion Plan, each designated entity shall adhere to existing 

20 and additional guidance provided by the Director. 

21 SEC. 4. OVERSIGHT AND ANNUAL REPORT. 

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

23 (1) ensure the compliance of designated entities 

24 with this Act; 


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1 (2) facilitate sharing of leading practices between 

2 designated entities; and 

3 (3) review the comprehensive CX Action Plans of 

4 designated entities for consistency with existing cus5 tomer experience guidance. 

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

7 the submission of all CX Action Plans under section 

8 3(a)(2), and annually thereafter, the Director shall submit 

9 to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 

10 Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Oversight and 

11 Accountability of the House of Representatives and make 

12 public recommendations for opportunities to streamline or 

13 co-locate critical Federal services. 


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Calendar No. 496 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2866 

[Report No. 118–217] 

A BILL 

To improve the customer experience of the Federal 

poses. simple, seamless, and secure, and for other purGovernment, ensure that Federal services are 

SEPTEMBER 10, 2024 

Reported with an amendment 


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