Senator Hassan’s Bipartisan Bill to Improve Federal Government’s Customer Service Unanimously Passes Senate

WASHINGTON – This week, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed the bipartisan Federal Agency Customer Experience (FACE) Act, introduced by Senators Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and James Lankford (R-OK), to better assess customer service experiences of Americans dealing with federal agencies.

“Customer satisfaction shouldn’t just apply to the stores you shop at, but the federal government too. When interacting with the federal government, the American taxpayer deserves to have an experience that is streamlined and efficient, something that we know many federal agencies need to improve,” said Senator Hassan. “This bill will make it easier for agencies to gather customer experience data critical to improving services for all Americans.”

The bipartisan FACE Act would allow agencies to more efficiently assess customer satisfaction with government services through brief surveys developed in coordination with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the General Services Administration (GSA). The surveys include standard questions developed by OMB and GSA which should address overall satisfaction; whether an individual accomplished his/her intended purpose; whether an individual was treated with respect and professionalism; and timeliness of service. The bill also increases transparency by requiring participating agencies to publish their customer feedback online and with OMB.

Senator Hassan has led efforts to modernize government technology, which could help improve customer experiences with the federal government. Her bipartisan Legacy IT Reduction Act would require agencies to identify their outdated and obsolete technology and publish modernization plans to dispose of or update those systems. The bill advanced out of committee this year. In addition, Senator Hassan has held hearings on the costs and challenges presented by the government’s reliance on legacy IT and cosponsored bipartisan legislation that was passed into law to help accelerate the adoption of the latest technologies by government agencies.

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