Reviewing The Legislation 
Customer Service Standards Act: Related References
Senate Bill 1563 Text
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Senate Bill 1563
Customer Service Standards
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 or other
appropriate methods approved
1-18 by the Governor's Office of Budget and
Planning and the Legislative
1-19 Budget Board regarding the quality of
service delivered by that
1-20 agency. The information requested
shall be as specified by the
1-21 Governor's Office of Budget and Planning
and the Legislative Budget
1-22 Board and may include evaluations of an
agency's:
1-23
(1) facilities, including the customer's ability to
1-24 access that agency, the office location,
signs, and cleanliness;
2-1
(2) staff, including employee courtesy, friendliness,
2-2 and knowledgeability, and whether staff
members adequately identify
2-3 themselves to customers by name, including
the use of name plates
2-4 or tags for accountability;
2-5
(3) communications, including toll-free telephone
2-6 access, the average time a customer spends
on hold, call transfers,
2-7 access to a live person, letters, and
electronic mail;
2-8
(4) Internet site, including the ease of use of the
2-9 site, information on the location of the
site and the agency, and
2-10 information accessible through the site
such as a listing of
2-11 services and programs and whom to contact
for further information
2-12 or to complain;
2-13
(5) complaint handling process, including whether it
2-14 is easy to file a complaint and whether
responses are timely;
2-15
(6) ability to timely serve its customers, including
2-16 the amount of time a customer waits for
service in person, by
2-17 phone, by letter, or at a website; and
2-18
(7) brochures or other printed information, including
2-19 the accuracy of that information.
2-20 (c)
Not later than June 1 of each even-numbered year, an
2-21 agency shall report on the information
gathered under Subsection
2-22 (b) to the Legislative Budget Board and the
Governor's Office of
2-23 Budget and Planning.
2-24 Sec.
2113.003. PERFORMANCE MEASURES. The Legislative Budget
2-25 Board shall develop means to measure
customer service satisfaction
2-26 and create performance measures for state
agencies in this area.
3-1 Sec.
2113.004. INSPECTIONS. The Legislative Budget Board
3-2 and the Governor's Office of Budget and
Planning may inspect a
3-3 state agency and analyze its customer
service performance by
3-4 sending a customer service evaluator to
confidentially pretend to
3-5 be a customer of that agency.
3-6 Sec.
2113.005. TEXAS STAR AWARD. (a) The Legislative
3-7 Budget Board and the Governor's Office of
Budget and Planning may
3-8 award the "Texas Star" to a state
agency that provides exemplary
3-9 customer service based on the performance
measures and standards
3-10 adopted under this chapter.
3-11 (b)
The board and the office of budget and planning shall
3-12 conduct an evaluation to determine agencies
that may qualify for
3-13 the Texas Star award. The evaluation
shall be conducted under the
3-14 procedures outlined in Sections 66-68,
Article IX, Chapter 1452,
3-15 Acts of the 75th Legislature, Regular
Session, 1997 (the General
3-16 Appropriations Act).
3-17 Sec.
2113.006. CUSTOMER RELATIONS REPRESENTATIVE; COMPACT
3-18 WITH TEXANS. (a) A state agency
shall appoint a customer
3-19 relations representative.
3-20 (b)
The representative shall:
3-21
(1) coordinate the state agency's customer service
3-22 performance measurement under this chapter;
3-23
(2) gather information and evaluations from the public
3-24 about an agency's customer service;
3-25
(3) respond to customer concerns; and
3-26
(4) establish the agency's compact with Texans under
4-1 Subsection (c).
4-2 (c)
Each state agency shall create a "Compact With Texans."
4-3 The compact must be approved by the
Governor's Office of Budget and
4-4 Planning and the Legislative Budget Board.
Each Compact With
4-5 Texans shall set customer service standards
and describe customer
4-6 service principles for that agency and
address:
4-7
(1) the agency's procedures for responding to public
4-8 contacts and complaints;
4-9
(2) applicable licensing and certification procedures;
4-10 and
4-11
(3) customer waiting time for access and service
4-12 delivery and responses to complaints.
4-13 (d)
Each agency that maintains a website shall publish its
4-14 Compact With Texans on that website.
4-15 Sec.
2113.007. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY. (a) The Governor's
4-16 Office of Budget and Planning may adopt
rules to implement this
4-17 chapter.
4-18 (b)
In developing the rules, the office of budget and
4-19 planning shall consult with and consider
the comments of the
4-20 Legislative Budget Board.
4-21 SECTION 2.
(a) For purposes of this section, "state agency"
4-22 means a department, commission, board, office,
or other agency in
4-23 the executive or judicial branch of government
that is created
4-24 under the constitution or a statute of this
state. The term
4-25 includes an institution of higher education as
defined by Section
4-26 61.003, Education Code.
5-1 (b)
The Legislative Budget Board and the Governor's Office
5-2 of Budget and Planning shall prepare a
two-volume report and file
5-3 it with the lieutenant governor and speaker of
the house of
5-4 representatives not later than December 31,
2000.
5-5 (c)
The report must include:
5-6
(1) a compilation of each state agency's customer
5-7 service performance standards; and
5-8
(2) an analysis of state agencies' customer service
5-9 performance standards and recommendations for
improving customer
5-10 service and customer service standards by
state agencies.
5-11 SECTION 3.
This Act takes effect September 1, 1999, except
5-12 that Section 2113.004, Government Code, as
added by this Act, takes
5-13 effect September 1, 2001.
5-14 SECTION 4.
The importance of this legislation and the
5-15 crowded condition of the calendars in both
houses create an
5-16 emergency and an imperative public necessity
that the
5-17 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read
on three several
5-18 days in each house be suspended, and this rule
is hereby suspended.
_______________________________
_______________________________
President of the Senate
Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1563 passed the Senate on
May 3, 1999, by the
following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 0; and that the
Senate concurred in House
amendment on May 29, 1999, by a viva-voce
vote.
_______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1563 passed the House, with
amendment, on May 25,
1999, by a non-record vote.
_______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
_______________________________
Date
_______________________________
Governor
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SRC-ARR S.B.
1563 76(R)BILL ANALYSIS
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Senate Research Center S.B. 1563
By: Armbrister
State Affairs
7/26/1999
Enrolled
DIGEST
Currently, Texas law does provide for customer service standards and
performance measures for state agencies. Governments around the would are
focusing on improving customer service by setting standards for
performance, redressing procedures, and gathering input from the public.
Sixty-four percent of Texans surveyed rated government customer services
either as excellent or good and 36 percent rated its service fair or bad.
S.B. 1563 will establish customer service standards and performance
measures for state agencies.
PURPOSE
As enrolled, S.B. 1563 establishes customer services standards and
performance measures for state agencies.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
Rulemaking authority is granted to the Governor's Office of Budget and
Planning in SECTION 1 (Section 2113.007(a), Government Code) of this bill.
SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS
SECTION 1. Amends Title 10C, Government Code, by adding Chapter 2113, as
follows:
CHAPTER 2113. CUSTOMER SERVICE
Sec. 2113.001. DEFINITION. Defines "state agency."
Sec. 2113.002. CUSTOMER SERVICE INPUT. Requires a state agency (agency) to
create an inventory of external customers for each budget strategy listed
in the General Appropriations Act for that agency. Requires each agency to
gather information from customers using survey or focus groups or other
appropriate methods approved by the Governor's Office of Budget and
Planning and the Legislative Budget Board regarding the quality of services
delivered by that agency. Requires information requested to be as specified
by the Governor's Office of Budget and Planning and the Legislative Budget
Board and may include evaluations of certain facilities of an agency.
Requires an agency, not later than a certain date, to report on the
information gathered under Subsection (b) to the Legislative Budget Board
(LBB) and the governor's office of budget and planning.
Sec. 2113.003. PERFORMANCE MEASURES. Requires the LBB to develop means to
measure customer service satisfaction and create performance measures
for
state agencies in this area.
Sec. 2113.004. INSPECTIONS. Authorizes the LBB and the governor's office of
budget and planning to inspect a state agency and analyze its customer
service performance by sending a customer service evaluator to
confidentially pretend to be a customer of that agency.
Sec. 2113.005. TEXAS STAR AWARD. Authorizes the LBB and the governor's
office of budget and planning to award the "Texas Star" to a
state agency
that provides exemplary customer service based on the performance measures
and standards adopted under this chapter. Requires the LBB and the
governor's office of budget and planning to conduct an evaluation to
determine agencies that may qualify for the Texas Star Award. Requires the
evaluation to be conducted under the procedures outlined in the General
Appropriations Act.
Sec. 2113.006. CUSTOMER RELATIONS REPRESENTATIVE; COMPACT WITH TEXANS.
Requires a state agency to appoint a customer relations
representative.
Requires the representative to take certain actions. Requires each state
agency to create a "Compact With Texans" (compact). Requires the
compact to
be approved by the Governor's Office of Budget and Planning and the
Legislative Budget Board. Requires each compact to set customer service
standards and describe customer service principles for that agency and
address certain issues. Requires each agency that maintains a website to
publish its Compact With Texans on that website.
Sec. 2113.007. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY. Authorizes the Governor's Office of
Budget and Planning to adopt rules to implement this chapter. Requires the
office of budget and planning to consult with and consider the comments of
the Legislative Budget Board, in developing the rules.
SECTION 2. Defines "state agency." Requires the LBB and the
governor's
office of budget and planning to prepare a report and file it with the
lieutenant governor and speaker of the house of representatives not later
than December 31, 2000. Requires the report to include certain information.
SECTION 3. Effective date: September 1, 1999, except that Section 2113.004,
Government Code, as added by this Act, takes effect September 1, 2001.
SECTION 4. Emergency clause.
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