I
112th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 538
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
AN ACT
To require the establishment of customer service standards for Federal agencies.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the Government Customer Service Improvement Act
.
Development of performance measures and standards for customer service provided by Federal agencies
Requirement
Performance measures and standards
The Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall develop—
performance measures to determine whether Federal agencies are providing high-quality customer service and improving service delivery to their customers; and
standards to be met by Federal agencies in order to provide high-quality customer service and improve service delivery to their customers.
Requirement to take into account certain information
The standards under paragraph (1) shall be developed after taking into account the information collected by Federal agencies under subsection (b).
Customer service input
The head of each Federal agency shall collect information from its customers regarding the quality of customer services provided by the agency. Each Federal agency shall include this information in its performance report submitted under section 1116 of title 31, United States Code.
Annual performance update
The Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall include achievements by Federal agencies in meeting customer service performance measures and standards developed under subsection (a) in each update on agency performance required under section 1116 of title 31, United States Code.
Implementation of customer service standards
Customer relations representative
The head of each Federal agency shall designate an employee to be the customer relations representative of the agency. Such representative shall be responsible for implementing the customer service standards developed under section 2 and the agency requirements under subsection (b).
Agency requirements
Guidelines and contact information
The head of each Federal agency, acting through its customer relations representative, shall—
issue guidelines to implement the customer service standards developed under section 2 within the agency, including specific principles of customer service applicable to that agency; and
publish customer service contact information, including a mailing address, telephone number, and e-mail address.
Availability
The guidelines and the customer service contact information required under this subsection shall be available on the agency’s public website.
Performance appraisal
Compliance with customer service standards developed under this Act shall be included in the performance appraisal systems referred to in sections 4302(a) and 4312 of title 5, United States Code.
Definitions
In this Act:
The term customer, with respect to a Federal agency, means any individual or entity, including a business, State or local government, other Federal agency, or Congress, to which the agency provides services or information.
The term Federal agency has the meaning given the term Executive agency
by section 105 of title 5, United States Code, except that the term does not include an agency if the President determines that this Act should not apply to the agency for national security reasons.
Deficit reduction
Any savings or reductions in expenditures resulting from this Act shall be used to offset the costs of implementation of this Act, and any additional savings shall be used to reduce the deficit.
Passed the House of Representatives September 11, 2012.
Karen L. Haas,
Clerk.
