State Department Customer Service Standards:
HB 979 would amend Florida’s Customer Service Standards Act to require state departments to offer a callback queue option for people who contact a department by telephone. Under the bill, a caller could choose to keep their place in line and receive a return call at a designated time instead of waiting on hold or listening to repeated ringing. The measure is limited to state departments and is set to take effect July 1, 2025.
The bill is a procedural customer-service reform rather than a substantive change to program eligibility, benefits, or agency authority. It would add a new required telephone-access feature for state departments and renumber existing statutory paragraphs in section 23.30, Florida Statutes. In practical terms, it would affect how agencies manage call volume and how members of the public interact with state offices by phone.
HB 979 would amend section 23.30, Florida Statutes, by adding a new customer-service requirement for state departments: a callback queue system for telephone callers. This would impose an operational standard on affected agencies, requiring them to provide a way for callers to preserve their place in line and receive a later call rather than remain on hold. The bill would not alter substantive rights or benefits, but it would change agency customer-service procedures and likely require administrative or technological adjustments by state departments.
The available record suggests the bill was generally favorable in concept as a customer-service improvement, but it did not advance out of the Government Operations Subcommittee. There are no recorded committee transcripts or votes in the provided materials, so there is no detailed evidence of debate or opposition in the record here. Its failure to move forward indicates limited legislative support or prioritization, despite the straightforward and consumer-friendly nature of the proposal.
No specific points of contention are documented in the provided materials because there are no committee transcripts or recorded votes. Based on the bill text, any concerns would likely have centered on implementation costs, staffing, technology upgrades, or agency flexibility in managing telephone queues. However, the record does not identify any member, agency, or stakeholder taking a formal position for or against the measure.