22. That’s how many bills have become law since the 113^th Congress was sworn in on January 3, 2013. It’s one more illustration of dysfunction that has descended upon the Capitol.

One bill that became law was the continuing resolution that funded government through September 30 of this year. Of course that was left over business from the 112^th Congress, considering the law went into effect half way through 2013 fiscal year. It’s looking like another continuing resolution is coming for fiscal year 2014 because the House has only passed four of the dozen required annual spending bills and the Senate hasn’t passed any. In fact, one day after House leadership yanked the Transportation-Housing and Urban Development spending bill from the floor, the Senate failed to overcome a key procedural hurdle (cloture or ending debate) on their version of the bill. The bill is aptly nicknamed “THUD.”

To be clear, the number of laws adopted isn’t the best marker of a successful Congress. Previous Congresses have padded their totals by passing scores of critical legislation like creating “National Watermelon Month” or naming infrastructure after their colleagues or honoring the NCAA Division III tiddlywinks champion (okay, we made that last one up, but you get the point).  Each Congress should be measured on the quality of their legislative record, not the quantity.

But it’s hard to have quality if you don’t have any bills. It’s also hard to pass legislation if you’re not in Washington. Today marks the beginning of the August recess and lawmakers don’t return to the Capitol until September 9^th. Then they’re only in session for nine days in September. The pace doesn’t pick up much, they’re only in town for a total of 30 days the last three months of the year, mostly in October.

You might wonder, “What do lawmakers do when they are in session?” Well, because no one expects much to get done, there’s a lot of shadow boxing legislation. The House votes for the umpteenth time to get rid of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and the Senate adopts a resolution designating July 24, 2013 “National Day of the American Cowboy.”  But even if the parties can’t come to agreement about passing substantive new bills, they should at least be doing legitimate oversight and conducting hearings on future reforms. Each House and Senate committee should be conducting hearings into federal programs they authorize and how they are working or not. We would all benefit from public discussion of options to reform entitlement programs. We would love to hear how  implementation of the transportation bill that passed last summer is going, and how effective the Superstorm Sandy spending has been so far. But we see precious little of this kind of oversight.

It’s not like there isn’t a lot on this Congress’s plate. The impact of sequestration and the spending reductions mandated by the Budget Control Act of 2011 remain. The farm bill and transportation bills both expire soon and both need meaningful reform. Comprehensive tax reform is on the docket. The looming insolvency of Medicare and Social Security in the face of the demographic wave of baby boomers is approaching. And of course those pesky annual spending bills – that’s only a constitutional requirement of Congress.

The nation needs – and deserves – a legislature that works. Both functionally and responsibly. So, 113^th Congress take August to get yourself together and come back ready to work. Please.