Customer Feedback Legislation Reintroduced In 116th Congress

A bipartisan group of lawmakers has reintroduced a measure to reform the process agencies use to gather feedback from the public. The Federal Agency Customer Experience Act (FACE Act) of 2019 has been introduced by Senators Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and James Lankford (R-OK.). The bill mirrors legislation passed through both chambers in the last Congress that never made it to the president’s desk for signature.

According to a press release by Senator Hassan’s office, the legislation directs agencies to develop short, voluntary, and anonymous customer service surveys to address overall public satisfaction, whether an individual accomplished his/her intended purpose, whether an individual was treated with respect and professionalism, and the timeliness of the service.

Questions for the survey would be developed by the Office of Management and Budget in conjunction with the General Services Administration.

The legislation shares the name and key pillars of legislation introduced in the 115th Congress which passed the House and Senate unanimously. However, the bills in each chamber were slightly different and reconciliation was not achieved before the end of the term.

Senator Lankford noted in the aforementioned release from Hassan’s office, “Our federal employees work hard to provide good service, but there are always going to be areas any of us can improve. Customer service should not be reserved for the private sector; the federal government should pay attention to its customers: American taxpayers. My office routinely hears from taxpayers who have identified federal agency customer service concerns, including timeliness of benefit processing, quality of communication, and general responsiveness. Congress cannot fix what it cannot see, and the FACE Act brings sunlight to the quality of federal agencies’ day-to-day interactions with constituents and gives American taxpayers greater ability to have their voices heard regarding their customer service experience with agencies.”

Senator Hassan’s office also noted that Congressmen Gerald Connolly (D-VA) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) would be introducing a companion measure in the House.

Connolly noted in the release, “Improving customer service at federal agencies is not a partisan issue. Federal employees are dedicated civil servants who want to deliver services to taxpayers as best they can. The FACE Act will improve customer service by allowing agencies to collect feedback, measure customer satisfaction, and use the feedback to improve their service.”