The performance of Massachusetts' federal legislators in Washington was a mixed bag in 2013, according to a report by a non-profit government transparency organization.

Govtrack.us, the online legislative tracking tool of Civic Impulse LLC, concluded that Congressmen Richard Neal and Jim McGovern, and Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, all Democrats, had high and low points apparent in their respective records for the year.

In regards to the House of Representatives, Neal got kudos for working well with Republicans across the aisle, especially considering the partisan atmosphere in Washington.

"In this era of partisanship, it is encouraging to see members of Congress working across the aisle," the report stated. "Of the 132 bills that Neal cosponsored, 42 percent were introduced by someone other than a Democrat."

Neal's legislative activity made him the most-bipartisan member of the House delegation.

William Mandel, a professor of political science at Western New England University, cited Neal's position on the powerful Ways and Means Committee as a contributing factor to his bipartisanship ranking from 2013.

From the upper left corner moving clockwise, this composite shows U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Ed Markey, U.S. Rep Jim McGovern and U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, all Massachusetts Democrats.

"That number is significant in the context of what Rep. Neal does in Congress," Mandel said. "I'm not surprised that someone with his seniority and committee assignment has learned to work well with his colleagues across the aisle."

McGovern, who represents the 2nd Congressional District, ranked low in terms of bipartisanship, as just 22 percent of the 461 bills he co-sponsored were introduced by someone other than a Democrat.

In the Senate, Warren ranked the lowest among all freshmen in terms of co-sponsoring bills introduced by someone other than a Democrat. The report concluded that of the 166 bills she attached her name to, only 11 percent were introduced by non-Democrats. That figure also placed her as the fifth- least bipartisan among all Senate Democrats and all members of the Senate.

Warren's office pointed out, however, that in addition to the bills measured in the the study's criteria for ranking partisanship, she also introduced two additional bills with Republicans as well as three floor amendments, which weren't calculated.

Markey ranked slightly better, but was the sixth-least bipartisan among freshmen senators with just 18 percent of the bills he co-sponsored coming from non-Democrats. With this statistic, Markey was the 29th least bipartisan senator in the chamber but the 24th highest among Senate Democrats.

In terms of missing votes in the House, Neal had the second-worst attendance record in the delegation as he was absent for 8.4 percent, according to the report. U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch of the 8th congressional District ranked missed the most votes, coming in absent 13.6 percent of the time.

Lynch, however, did spend much of 2013 on the campaign trail as a Democratic primary challenger to Markey for the Senate seat vacated by John Kerry's ascension to become Secretary of State under President Barack Obama.

McGovern, however, got the best attendance record in the delegation for 2013 as he missed just 1.4 percent of the votes in the House.

In the Senate, Warren missed nine of 291 votes, placing her as the 25th most-absent senator among the chamber's 100 members. Her office noted that seven of the votes Warren missed were due to the Boston Marathon bombing in April as she and several other members of the delegation opted to stay in Massachusetts that week rather than travel to Washington.

Markey, who won his seat in a June special election, fared better, missing just .8 percent, or 1 of the 119 votes taken since he was sworn in.





The percentages listed next to each politician reflects how often they missed Congressional votes in 2013, as recorded by Civic Impulse.

1) 13.6% Rep. Stephen Lynch [D-MA8]

2) 8.4% Rep. Richard Neal [D-MA1]

3) 5.6% Rep. Niki Tsongas [D-MA3]

4) 3.7% Rep. John Tierney [D-MA6]

5) 3.4% Rep. William Keating [D-MA9]

6) 3.3% Rep. Michael Capuano [D-MA7]

7) 2.2% Rep. Joseph Kennedy [D-MA4]

8) 1.4% Rep. James “Jim” McGovern [D-MA2]

Mandel, who previously worked as a congressional staffer, said that despite the various absentee rates of each member, none were horrible. He said that typically, staff likes to keep their boss north of the 92 percent attendance mark.

"I've worked on congressional campaigns and we've used people's attendance records and been on the receiving end of those attacks. But the numbers never mean exactly what they seem to," Mandel said. "There are procedural and substantive votes that mean nothing, and others that are important. The real issue is whether a legislator is there for the important votes and that distinction is in the eyes of the beholder."

Although no member of the Massachusetts delegation in the House or the Senate saw legislation they introduced become law in 2013, Markey was the most prolific in terms of crafting such bills. The report concluded that Markey introduced 39 bills, compared to Warren and Neal who introduced seven each, and McGovern, who introduced nine.

A legislator's ability to get cosponsors for their bills greatly helps their chances of becoming a law. Still, cosponsors alone don't take into account the myriad of factors contributing to a bill's fate in Washington.

Markey ranked the highest in the entire Senate, landing 591 co-sponsors in 2013, which is astounding considering he only served six months in the Senate. Warren's bills and resolutions had 239 cosponsors, while Neal's had 67 cosponsors and McGovern's had 383 cosponsors.

Mandel said that it is likely that Neal's committee assignments mean that he doesn't need the same cosponsor momentum to get a bill heard in committee that someone with other assignments does.

"For the most part, you try to collect cosponsors to build momentum for your bill but a lot of bills are for show and are never meant to go anywhere," Mandel said. "But it all depends on the issue and the specific bill."

Check out the report cards for the entire Massachusetts delegation by clicking on the links below: