By BRENT MARTINSt. Joseph PostThe Missouri Chamber of Commerce is harsh in its assessment of this year's legislative session, calling it dysfunctional.State Chamber President Dan Mehan says the General Assembly did little this year, passing only 28 non-budget bills. And Mehan claims that when lawmakers did try to pass legislation, they too often attempted to hamper businesses with regulations."This may seem like it's odd, but this is the truth. There was a bill that would have mandated that employers must accept gold and/or silver as forms of payment for products or services rendered," Mehan tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post in a phone interview. "That won't work for God only knows how many reasons."Mehan says the legislature also attempted to revoke the long-held business right to make workplace decisions such as vaccination policies, employee benefits, as well as diversity, equity, and inclusion practices.Mehan charges that instead of tackling the tough issues facing the state, too many lawmakers attempted to pass additional business regulations."You walk out of the Capitol scratching your head, saying what are these people thinking?" Mehan states. "There's more important things that we can deal with such as the legal system, such as infrastructure development, or education attainment than these petty mandates that are just a complete pain for businesses to comply with."Mehan calls this session one of the least productive, ever.The Missouri Chamber pushed for a child care package carried by St. Joseph state Rep. Brenda Shields that the Senate ignored and for changes to Missouri's statute of limitations on claims against businesses.Mehan lays the blame at the feet of the Freedom Caucus in the Senate, which used filibusters to tied up work in the Senate throughout the five-and-a-half month legislative session.Despite the harsh assessment of this year's legislative session, the Chamber does see at least one bright spot from the session. Mehan praises a major piece of legislation that did pass, the anti-crime package sponsored by Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer of Parkville."This has stiffer penalties on it for repeat offenders. We thought this was a good step in the right direction this year," Mehan says. "It was one of those rays of hope that we saw pass this year. Sen. Luetkemeyer deserves a lot of credit for getting that done in a very difficult year in the Missouri Senate."Other wins during the session, according to the Missouri Chamber, were the expansion of the MOBUCKS low-interest loan program and the appropriation of $727.5 million to expand I-44 to six lanes in Springfield, Joplin, and Rolla.You can follow Brent on X @GBrentKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.