1-1     By:  Armbrister                                       S.B. No. 1563
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed March 12, 1999; March 15, 1999, read
 1-3     first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
 1-4     April 23, 1999, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 7,
 1-5     Nays 0; April 23, 1999, sent to printer.)
 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-7                                   AN ACT
 1-8     relating to establishing customer service standards and performance
 1-9     measures for state agencies.
1-10           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11           SECTION 1.  Subtitle C, Title 10, Government Code, is amended
1-12     by adding Chapter 2113 to read as follows:
1-13                       CHAPTER 2113.  CUSTOMER SERVICE
1-14           Sec. 2113.001.  DEFINITION.  In this chapter, "state agency"
1-15     means a department, commission, board, office, or other agency in
1-16     the executive or judicial branch of state government that is
1-17     created under the constitution or a statute of this state.  The
1-18     term includes an institution of higher education as defined by
1-19     Section 61.003, Education Code.
1-20           Sec. 2113.002.  CUSTOMER SERVICE INPUT.  (a)  A state agency
1-21     shall create an inventory of external customers for each budget
1-22     strategy listed in  the General Appropriations Act for that agency.
1-23           (b)  Each agency shall gather information from customers
1-24     using survey or focus groups regarding the quality of service
1-25     delivered by that agency.  The information requested must include
1-26     evaluations of an agency's:
1-27                 (1)  facilities, including the customer's ability to
1-28     access that agency, the office location, signs, and cleanliness;
1-29                 (2)  staff, including employee courtesy, friendliness,
1-30     and knowledgeability, and whether staff members adequately identify
1-31     themselves to customers by name, including the use of name plates
1-32     or tags for accountability;
1-33                 (3)  communications, including toll-free telephone
1-34     access, the average time a customer spends on hold, call transfers,
1-35     access to a live person, letters, and electronic mail;
1-36                 (4)  Internet site, including the ease of use of the
1-37     site, information on the location of the site and the agency, and
1-38     information accessible through the site such as a listing of
1-39     services and programs and who to contact for further information or
1-40     to complain;
1-41                 (5)  complaint handling process, including whether it
1-42     is easy to file a complaint and whether responses are timely;
1-43                 (6)  ability to timely serve its customers, including
1-44     the amount of time a customer waits for service in person, by
1-45     phone, by letter, or at a website; and
1-46                 (7)  brochures or other printed information, including
1-47     the accuracy of that information.
1-48           (c)  Not later than June 1 of each even-numbered year, an
1-49     agency shall report on the information gathered under Subsection
1-50     (b) to the Legislative Budget Board and the Governor's Office of
1-51     Budget and Planning.
1-52           Sec. 2113.003.  PERFORMANCE MEASURES.  The Legislative Budget
1-53     Board shall develop means to measure customer service satisfaction
1-54     and create performance measures for state agencies in this area.
1-55           Sec. 2113.004.  INSPECTIONS.  The Legislative Budget Board
1-56     and the Governor's Office of Budget and Planning may inspect a
1-57     state agency and analyze its customer service performance by
1-58     sending a customer service evaluator to confidentially pretend to
1-59     be a customer of that agency.
1-60           Sec. 2113.005.  TEXAS STAR AWARD.  (a)  The Legislative
1-61     Budget Board and the Governor's Office of Budget and Planning may
1-62     award the "Texas Star" to a state agency that provides exemplary
1-63     customer service based on the performance measures and standards
1-64     adopted under this chapter.
 2-1           (b)  The board and the office of budget and planning shall
 2-2     conduct an evaluation to determine agencies that may qualify for
 2-3     the Texas Star award.  The evaluation shall be conducted under the
 2-4     procedures outlined in Sections 66-68, Article IX, Chapter 1452,
 2-5     Acts of the 75th Legislature, Regular Session, 1997 (the General
 2-6     Appropriations Act).
 2-7           Sec. 2113.006.  CUSTOMER RELATIONS REPRESENTATIVE; COMPACT
 2-8     WITH TEXANS.  (a)  A state agency shall appoint a customer
 2-9     relations representative.
2-10           (b)  The representative shall:
2-11                 (1)  coordinate the state agency's customer service
2-12     performance measurement under this chapter;
2-13                 (2)  gather information and evaluations from the public
2-14     about an agency's customer service;
2-15                 (3)  respond to customer concerns; and
2-16                 (4)  establish the agency's compact with Texans under
2-17     Subsection (c).
2-18           (c)  Each state agency shall create a "Compact With Texans."
2-19     The compact must be approved by the Governor's Office of Budget and
2-20     Planning.  Each Compact With Texans shall set customer service
2-21     standards and describe customer service principles for that agency
2-22     and address:
2-23                 (1)  the agency's procedures for responding to public
2-24     contacts and complaints;
2-25                 (2)  applicable licensing and certification procedures;
2-26     and
2-27                 (3)  customer waiting time for access and service
2-28     delivery and responses to complaints.
2-29           SECTION 2.  (a)  For purposes of this section, "state agency"
2-30     means a department, commission, board, office, or other agency in
2-31     the executive or judicial branch of government that is created
2-32     under the constitution or a statute of this state.  The term
2-33     includes an institution of higher education as defined by Section
2-34     61.003, Education Code.
2-35           (b)  The Legislative Budget Board and the Governor's Office
2-36     of Budget and Planning shall prepare a report and file it with the
2-37     lieutenant governor and speaker of the house of representatives not
2-38     later than December 31, 2000.
2-39           (c)  The report must include:
2-40                 (1)  an analysis of each state agency's customer
2-41     service performance standards and ways in which that agency can
2-42     improve its performance; and
2-43                 (2)  recommendations regarding improving customer
2-44     service by state agencies.
2-45           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999, except
2-46     that Section 2113.004, Government Code, as added by this Act, takes
2-47     effect September 1, 2001.
2-48           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-49     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-50     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-51     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-52     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
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