Description:
As ordered reported by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on April 18, 2012
H.R. 538 would set standards to increase the quality of customer service provided by government agencies. Under the bill, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) would set customer service standards for federal agencies. Those agencies would collect information on their performance and report it to OMB. They also would have to display that information on their public Web sites. Agencies would also be required to designate an employee as a customer relations representative.
CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 538 would have no significant cost over the next five years. The bill could affect direct spending by agencies not funded through annual appropriations; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. CBO estimates, however, that any net increase in spending by those agencies would not be significant. Enacting H.R. 538 would not affect revenues.
Most of the provisions of the bill would codify and expand current practices of the federal government. Executive Order 13571 directed agencies to develop customer service plans. OMB has already drafted guidance and created a Customer Service Task Force to identify best practices and to review agencies’ plans. Consequently, CBO estimates that implementing this bill would not significantly increase administrative costs to federal agencies.
H.R. 538 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments.
