Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-IL)
The office of Rep. Cheri Bustos makes excellent constituent service a daily expectation, not just a routine practice. Since 2017, the office has recovered over $2,800,000 for constituents, participated in 1754 constituent meetings and district events, and visited 57 rural libraries to donate 2,850 Library of Congress surplus books. Last year alone, the Congresswoman hosted (or attended) over 200 events, including 38 supermarket visits, 19 roundtable discussions, and worked 21 "Cheri on Shifts", where she shadows constituents in their everyday jobs. The office celebrates constituent success stories, both internally on all staff calls, and externally on social media. Rep. Bustos and her staff constantly evolve to meet the needs of their constituents, which has included holding three minority business assistance workshops, implementing a grant resource fair, and creating the Rural Green Partnership – all addressing gaps in constituent services.
Rep. Kendra Horn (D-OK)
The office of Rep. Kendra Horn has hit the ground running since opening their office in 2019. Local media outlets report that in one year, she's held more town halls than the past decade of Members from this seat combined. She's met with over 18,000 constituents since taking office, and has conducted 363 mobile office hours covering every county in the district. She relocated her district office to be more accessible to constituents without a means of reliable transportation, and hired a diverse staff, both with regard to identity and prior work experience. One of the ways Rep. Horn and staff ensure quality assurance in their work is by sending a post-casework survey to every constituent they interact with, aiming to improve office procedures and outcomes. She receives and processes casework requests via her social media accounts, and the office has recouped $561,888 since February 2019 for constituents needing back payments, student loan relief, and/or federal office budgets.
Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA)
As a 2018 Democracy Award Winner for Transparency and Accountability, the office of Rep. Seth Moulton has already demonstrated the value they place on accessibility, an emphasis rivaled by their commitment to constituent service. Since 2015, the office has saved constituents $2,475,152; at the conclusion of each case, the office sends a survey by email or phone designed to measure their service both qualitatively and quantitatively. Their customer satisfaction score is exceptional compared to similar measurements in the private sector. Additionally, the office makes itself a resource for new Members. Last year, they wrote a manual on their constituent service operations with the intention of preparing freshmen, and they held two conference calls with staff for new Members. Rep. Moulton hosts both in-person and Facebook Live town halls, and during his first term held an in-person town hall in all 39 cities and towns in his district. Last year, he co-sponsored the TL;DR Act with Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC), which aims to make letters from federal agencies more easily understood by constituents, a key component of last year's office goal: making government more accessible to constituents.
Representative Donna Shalala (D-FL)
The office of Rep. Donna Shalala sees delivering effective constituent service as part of their complex and nuanced understanding of the district they serve. As such, most of the staff originates from the district and most are fully bilingual to accommodate the diversity of their constituency in Miami, Florida. Press releases, franking pieces, social media, and the website are all accessible in both English and Spanish. By the end of 2019, Rep. Shalala held 20 town halls in her district as well as 11 "Desayunos Con Donna" ("Breakfast with Donna") in DC. Rep. Shalala remains at town halls until every question is answered, often staying well after scheduled departure time. When possible, she personally calls constituents to deliver good news regarding their cases. Regarding mail, the office has one of the lowest mail aging numbers on the Hill, with average annual mail age time at 7 days, with average mail time during the last quarter of the year reduced to 2 days. The office celebrates successes during weekly staff meetings, makes themselves available an hour before every town hall to sign up constituents for casework, and works with constituents to find a time to meet with them if they are unavailable during business hours.
Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE)
The office of Rep. Don Bacon crafted a strategic plan early last year with a vision to "deliver world class congressional services and representation to all our constituents and inspire trust and confidence in government and its elected leaders." All training programs for new staff/interns go through the strategic plan and all expectations, policies, and procedures flow from this document. Rep. Bacon personally follows through in his dedication to constituents, often handing out his business card and even personal cell phone number to constituents. He makes himself available and accessible to constituents via social media, forwarding direct messages and tweets to staff and has a track record for rapid engagement, action, and response. After case closures, office leadership periodically conduct calls, send emails, and check with constituents to ensure the team delivered according to expectations. Though feedback is rarely negative, any critical comments lead to a staff huddle to brainstorm how they can improve. In addition to in-person and tele-town halls, Rep. Bacon has hosted and participated in live, online webinars on topics ranging from sex trafficking to recreational drone safety. Last year, Rep. Bacon hosted a Civil Rights Grant Forum with the National Parks Service, with subsequent work planned to assist the Malcolm X Foundation in connecting with the right resources to improve the organization's efforts.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX)
With a full-time staff of eight dedicated caseworkers, all of whom receive a comprehensive 30-day training, the office of Sen. John Cornyn prioritizes their constituent service operation at the highest level. The office has created "cheat sheets" which are consolidated from their several casework manuals for quick reference by their constituent services team. Each caseworker receives a "tickler" on Monday mornings reminding them which of their cases are due for follow-up each week. Staff publish monthly reports highlighting success stories, and the office displays a "Bravo Board" of thank you notes and letters from constituents. To accommodate a large Latino population, Sen. Cornyn's website is published in both English and Spanish, and the office has several employees fluent in Spanish. Additionally, Sen. Cornyn has seven offices throughout the state to ensure all parts of Texas is represented. The office maintains a high degree of quality control, ensuring that every person who contacts the Senator receives a response. Caseworkers frequently make themselves accessible after-hours for assistance should the need arise. Sen. Cornyn holds tele-town halls, Thursday coffees in his DC office, and regularly visits his constituent services team in Texas.
Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA)
Now a three-time finalist in the Democracy Award Constituent Service category, the office of Rep. Mike Kelly has consistently demonstrated exemplary efforts toward serving their constituents. Their office follows a hybrid casework model which includes two staffers on veterans/military issues, two staffers on general issues, and one staffer who oversees the entire constituent services operation and handles more complex cases. In 2019, Rep. Kelly hosted four tele-town halls; a School Safety Seminar in partnership with the U.S. Secret Service, the FBI, and the U.S. Attorney's Office; a Veterans Resource Fair; and a Fighting Fraud and Scams Workshop. In their most recent town hall, the office dialed out to almost 100,000 households, leaving 68,000 informal messages, and had approximately 5,000 attendees. The office continuously recognizes constituents for various reasons and through multiple methods, including their Community Champion Award program which highlights selfless and service-minded individuals. In 2020, the office is launching the Keystone Standout Award to honor students dedicated to improving the quality of life in their communities and the Veteran of the Month program, created in order to celebrate, praise and support America's heroes. In addition, Rep. Kelly regularly participates in the Congressional Art Competition and Congressional App Challenge, proudly embracing all opportunities to connect with and serve his constituency.
Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA)
As a 2018 Democracy Award Winner for Transparency and Accountability, the office of Rep. Rob Wittman is no stranger to recognition for their office operations. With regard to constituent service, they take a multi-level approach, including bi-annual satisfaction surveys in spring and fall to solicit constituent feedback, a 'Constituent Service Success Stories' series, and several task force meetings and symposiums throughout the year. In 2019, this included five seniors symposiums, three veterans' symposiums, the third meeting of the First District Rural Broadband Task Force, and the inaugural meeting of the First District Career and Technical Education Task Force. Additionally, Rep. Wittman hosted four in-person town halls, several tele-town halls, and started a new constituent outreach program, "Breakfast with Rob." The office also sends out weekly surveys to gauge constituent interest on pressing news of the week. Over the past several years, they've grown their opt-in mail file by 50,000, and batched constituents into targeted coalitions, providing customized content based on their interests.
