Sec. 2. Findings

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Congress finds the following: Although the public believes that the Federal Government serves an indispensable role and often performs quite well, overall trust in the Federal Government is at historic lows. Agencies face competing requirements and respond to evolving and diverse needs in a context of uncertainty and constrained resources. To perform this challenging job for the benefit of the public, experimentation, learning, and failure should be expected and welcomed. Congress must support agencies throughout this process by balancing traditional oversight with dedicated efforts to celebrate progress and locate setbacks within a broader context.

Improving public trust requires delivering tangible results that address the needs of the public, including those needs that span agencies or require coordination with State, local, Tribal, or territorial governments. But improving public trust also requires the Federal Government to consider much more deeply how interaction with the public shapes public perceptions and how communication by the Federal Government can provide better context on the many ways in which the Federal Government serves the public.

In terms of public interaction, whether seeking a small business loan, veterans’ services, Social Security benefits, or other service or information, the people of the United States deserve a customer experience that matches or exceeds that of leading private sector organizations. This level of customer experience means experiences are seamless, connected, inclusive, effective, consistent, and reliable. Customer experience (commonly referred to as CX ) is a vital means for agencies to pursue their missions in a more effective and responsive way and at a lower cost, as research shows that customer experience is linked to— more accurate and timely data submissions; increased feedback that improves services through 3 different means, which include— process, procedure, product, or safety improvement; uncovering unmet customer needs that require a new or innovative approach; and informing leadership decision making so that agencies are grounded in improving customer outcomes; improved compliance with agency regulations and guidance; and improved workforce morale and retention.

Customer experience is also highly correlated with public trust in the Federal Government and is therefore essential for broader efforts of the Federal Government to earn and maintain the consent of the governed. Yet the Forrester's 2020 Federal Customer Experience Index noted that Federal customer experience lags behind all sectors of private industry. While the Federal Government faces constraints that the private sector does not face, including competing requirements, such as balancing speed and combating fraud, an obligation to serve the entire public, less nimble workforce and hiring policies, and personnel and spending constraints, the Federal Government has both the ability and imperative to improve customer experience.

Research also shows a strong correlation between employee engagement and the quality of customer experience. Employees provide better customer experience when they feel valued and identify with the missions of their agencies, and, as customer experience and confidence in the agency improves, those employees become even more committed, creative, and professional. The Federal Government has made significant progress on improving customer experience, including through— efforts within the General Services Administration, such as the 18F Office, the 10X Program, the U.S.

Web Design System, the Digital.gov communities and website, and the Presidential Innovation Fellows Program; the Smarter IT Schedule A hiring authority issued by the Director of the Office of Personnel Management; the Technology Modernization Fund established under section 1078 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 ( 40 U.S.C. 11301 note), which provides broad authority for information technology modernization to improve customer experience and public-facing digital services; efforts on employee engagement by the Office of Personnel Management and the Office of Management and Budget; the United States Digital Service;

Executive Order 12862 ( 31 U.S.C. 501 note; relating to setting customer service standards) and Executive Order 13571 (76 Fed. Reg. 24339; relating to streamlining service delivery and improving customer service); efforts of the executive branch as of the date of enactment of this Act, including— Section 280 of Circular A11 Part 6

(2021)of the Office of Management and Budget; and the establishment of dedicated individuals at the Office of Management and Budget to work on cross-agency customer experience initiatives and information collection reviews; the designation of high-impact service providers and the sharing of feedback performance data, customer experience capacity assessments, and customer experience action plans on a dedicated website; individual agencies that are early adopters of customer experience approaches, including the Veterans Experience Office of the Department of Veterans Affairs; and legislation, including— the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014 ( 31 U.S.C. 6101 note); the 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act ( 44 U.S.C. 3501 note); and pending legislation. With respect to communication, agencies have both a constitutional duty and an operational imperative to better communicate how those agencies serve the public, including through stories of human-level impact, compelling design, and interactive platforms that make the public feel valued and included, particularly if agencies work in counterintuitive, preventative, or subtle ways. A push towards open government, in particular through data.gov, performance.gov, challenge.gov, and other transparency efforts, are vital steps to improving public confidence and decision-making and service delivery. Additionally, open data is a vital service for the public that researchers, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and the public alike can use to innovate, promote economic growth, and take an active role in improving communities alongside the Federal Government. But open government is not enough. To truly nourish a debate about the achievements and role of the Federal Government, rather than simply making information available, agencies must communicate their mandates, performance, and data in a manner that ensures that the public understands the broader context in which those agencies operate and the real-world impact of those agencies. In performing the tasks described in paragraph (12), the Federal Government has broad latitude to communicate to the public in tailored, creative, and compelling ways. Provisions in annual appropriations Acts typically bar agencies from engaging in impermissible publicity or propaganda. Although those provisions prohibit agencies from engaging in self-aggrandizement, covert propaganda and purely partisan communications, those provisions do not restrict agencies from engaging in legitimate activities to inform the public about agency programs. Full compliance with those provisions presents no bar for an agency to fully implement the activities authorized and encouraged in this Act. As necessary, agencies may seek decisions and informal technical assistance from the Comptroller General of the United States concerning the applicability of prohibitions against publicity or propaganda. USA.gov and other-Government wide platforms, such as login.gov, have the potential to become interactive, personalized, and compelling portals to the Federal Government and enable the public to both address its needs, learn about the myriad ways in which the Federal Government improves the lives of the public, and develop a greater sense of pride in the Federal Government. However, the current incarnations of Government-wide communication platforms fall well short of this vision.

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