By: Armbrister S.B. No. 1563
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to establishing customer service standards and performance
1-2 measures for state agencies.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Subtitle C, Title 10, Government Code, is amended
1-5 by adding Chapter 2113 to read as follows:
1-6 CHAPTER 2113. CUSTOMER SERVICE
1-7 Sec. 2113.001. DEFINITION. In this chapter, "state agency"
1-8 means a department, commission, board, office, or other agency in
1-9 the executive or judicial branch of state government that is
1-10 created under the constitution or a statute of this state. The
1-11 term includes an institution of higher education as defined by
1-12 Section 61.003, Education Code.
1-13 Sec. 2113.002. CUSTOMER SERVICE INPUT. (a) A state agency
1-14 shall create an inventory of external customers for each budget
1-15 strategy listed in the General Appropriations Act for that agency.
1-16 (b) Each agency shall gather information from customers
1-17 using survey or focus groups regarding the quality of service
1-18 delivered by that agency. The information requested must include
1-19 evaluations of an agency's:
1-20 (1) facilities, including the customer's ability to
1-21 access that agency, the office location, signs, and cleanliness;
1-22 (2) staff, including employee courtesy, friendliness,
1-23 and knowledgeability, and whether staff members adequately identify
1-24 themselves to customers by name, including the use of name plates
2-1 or tags for accountability;
2-2 (3) communications, including toll-free telephone
2-3 access, the average time a customer spends on hold, call transfers,
2-4 access to a live person, letters, and electronic mail;
2-5 (4) Internet site, including the ease of use of the
2-6 site, information on the location of the site and the agency, and
2-7 information accessible through the site such as a listing of
2-8 services and programs and who to contact for further information or
2-9 to complain;
2-10 (5) complaint handling process, including whether it
2-11 is easy to file a complaint and whether responses are timely;
2-12 (6) ability to timely serve its customers, including
2-13 the amount of time a customer waits for service in person, by
2-14 phone, by letter, or at a website; and
2-15 (7) brochures or other printed information, including
2-16 the accuracy of that information.
2-17 (c) Not later than June 1 of each even-numbered year, an
2-18 agency shall report on the information gathered under Subsection
2-19 (b) to the Legislative Budget Board and the Governor's Office of
2-20 Budget and Planning.
2-21 Sec. 2113.003. PERFORMANCE MEASURES. The Legislative Budget
2-22 Board shall develop means to measure customer service satisfaction
2-23 and create performance measures for state agencies in this area.
2-24 Sec. 2113.004. INSPECTIONS. The Legislative Budget Board
2-25 and the Governor's Office of Budget and Planning may inspect a
2-26 state agency and analyze its customer service performance by
3-1 sending a customer service evaluator to confidentially pretend to
3-2 be a customer of that agency.
3-3 Sec. 2113.005. TEXAS STAR AWARD. (a) The Legislative
3-4 Budget Board and the Governor's Office of Budget and Planning may
3-5 award the "Texas Star" to a state agency that provides exemplary
3-6 customer service based on the performance measures and standards
3-7 adopted under this chapter.
3-8 (b) The board and the office of budget and planning shall
3-9 conduct an evaluation to determine agencies that may qualify for
3-10 the Texas Star award. The evaluation shall be conducted under the
3-11 procedures outlined in Sections 66-68, Article IX, Chapter 1452,
3-12 Acts of the 75th Legislature, Regular Session, 1997 (the General
3-13 Appropriations Act).
3-14 Sec. 2113.006. CUSTOMER RELATIONS REPRESENTATIVE; COMPACT
3-15 WITH TEXANS. (a) A state agency shall appoint a customer
3-16 relations representative.
3-17 (b) The representative shall:
3-18 (1) coordinate the state agency's customer service
3-19 performance measurement under this chapter;
3-20 (2) gather information and evaluations from the public
3-21 about an agency's customer service;
3-22 (3) respond to customer concerns; and
3-23 (4) establish the agency's compact with Texans under
3-24 Subsection (c).
3-25 (c) Each state agency shall create a "Compact With Texans."
3-26 The compact must be approved by the Governor's Office of Budget and
4-1 Planning. Each Compact With Texans shall set customer service
4-2 standards and describe customer service principles for that agency
4-3 and address:
4-4 (1) the agency's procedures for responding to public
4-5 contacts and complaints;
4-6 (2) applicable licensing and certification procedures;
4-7 and
4-8 (3) customer waiting time for access and service
4-9 delivery and responses to complaints.
4-10 SECTION 2. (a) For purposes of this section, "state agency"
4-11 means a department, commission, board, office, or other agency in
4-12 the executive or judicial branch of government that is created
4-13 under the constitution or a statute of this state. The term
4-14 includes an institution of higher education as defined by Section
4-15 61.003, Education Code.
4-16 (b) The Legislative Budget Board and the Governor's Office
4-17 of Budget and Planning shall prepare a report and file it with the
4-18 lieutenant governor and speaker of the house of representatives not
4-19 later than December 31, 2000.
4-20 (c) The report must include:
4-21 (1) an analysis of each state agency's customer
4-22 service performance standards and ways in which that agency can
4-23 improve its performance; and
4-24 (2) recommendations regarding improving customer
4-25 service by state agencies.
4-26 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999, except
5-1 that Section 2113.004, Government Code, as added by this Act, takes
5-2 effect September 1, 2001.
5-3 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
5-4 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-5 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-6 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-7 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.