Government Customer Service Improvement Act of 2013

Bill: 113-hr-1660
Sponsor: Rep. Cuellar, Henry [D-TX-28]
Introduced: 2013-04-19 in the House
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Congressional oversight
Consumer affairs
Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
Government information and archives
Government studies and investigations
Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
Performance measurement

Summary:
action_date: 2013-04-19
text: 
Government Customer Service Improvement Act of 2013 - Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to develop government-wide standards for customer service delivery, which shall be included in the Federal Government Performance Plan. Requires such standards to include: (1) government-wide goals for continuous service improvements and efforts to modernize service delivery; and (2) government-wide target response times for telephone calls, electronic mail, mail, benefit processing, and payments. 
 
Directs: (1) the Chief Performance Officer for each executive agency to establish customer service standards in accordance with such government-wide standards, which shall be included in Agency Performance Plans; (2) the Performance Improvement Officer for each agency to collect information from customers of the agency regarding the quality of customer service provided; and (3) the Director to include agency achievements in meeting such standards and customer service performance measures in each required update on agency performance.
 
Requires: (1) the Director to establish a two-year Service Improvement Unit Pilot Program to provide assistance to agencies that do not meet such government-wide standards, and (2) the Administrator of General Services (GSA) to provide administrative and other support to implement such Program.
 
Requires the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to: (1) submit to Congress and the Comptroller General (GAO) and issue publicly every month a report on information submitted by each federal agency regarding its employees who are retiring and pending applications for retirement benefits, (2) establish a timetable for completion of OPM's retirement systems modernization project and a deadline by which all federal payroll processing entities will electronically transmit all personnel data to OPM, and (3) include in each annual budget request a statement on OPM's progress in completing such project and resources needed to implement it.

action_date: 2013-07-31
text: 
Government Customer Service Improvement Act of 2013 - Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to develop government-wide standards for customer service delivery, which shall be included in the Federal Government Performance Plan. Requires such standards to include: (1) government-wide goals for continuous service improvements and efforts to modernize service delivery; and (2) government-wide target response times for telephone calls, electronic mail, mail, benefit processing, and payments. 
 
Directs: (1) the Performance Improvement Officer for each executive agency to establish customer service standards in accordance with such government-wide standards, which shall be included in agency performance plans; (2) the Director of OMB to establish a Customer Service Feedback Pilot Program which shall include participation by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and two additional agencies to collect information from agency customers on the quality of customer service provided; and (3) the Director to include agency achievements in meeting customer service performance standards in each required update on agency performance.
 
Requires: (1) compliance with customer service standards developed under this Act to be included in agency employee appraisal systems, (2) the Director of OMB to establish a two-year Service Improvement Unit Pilot Program to provide assistance to agencies that do not meet such government-wide customer service standards, and (3) the Administrator of General Services (GSA) to provide administrative and other support to implement such Program.
 
Requires the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to: (1) submit to Congress and the Comptroller General (GAO) and issue publicly every month a report on information submitted by each federal agency about its employees who are retiring and pending applications for retirement benefits, (2) establish a timetable for completion of OPM's customer-focused retirement processing system and a deadline by which all federal payroll processing entities will electronically transmit all personnel data to OPM, and (3) include in each OPM annual budget request a statement on progress in completing its customer-focused retirement processing system.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-08-01
text: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
action_date: 2013-07-31
text: Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
action_date: 2013-07-31
text: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H5207-5208)
action_date: 2013-07-31
text: Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote.(text: CR H5207-5208)
action_date: 2013-07-31
text: DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 1660.
action_date: 2013-07-31
text: Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H5207-5209)
action_date: 2013-07-31
text: Mr. Meadows moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
action_date: 2013-07-24
text: Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by Voice Vote.
action_date: 2013-07-24
text: Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
action_date: 2013-04-19
text: Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
action_date: 2013-04-19
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2013-04-19
text: Introduced in House