What began on Jan. 13, 2003, as a promising legislative session ended on June 19 as one of the most disconcerting sessions in recent history. One might wonder what was accomplished, especially since the session ran well past the sine die deadline of April 26. As a small-business advocate working at the Capitol day in and day out, I’m not convinced that much was accomplished.

Granted, of 90 legislators, 38 were new to the Capitol this year, so there was definitely a learning curve. The Legislature was also preoccupied dealing with Arizona’s fiscal crisis, having to re-open the 2003 budget to make adjustments.

What I found most disturbing throughout the session was a good portion of legislators lacked concern to learn the facts. Bills were debated and then passed with little regard for how the state would pay for them. The line I will most remember is, “I don’t really care what is in the bill, and I don’t want to understand it. I always vote with Rep. ‘X’ anyway.” While I understand that relationships help make things happen, this year went beyond relationships — many lawmakers just didn’t care.

Another frustrating and frequent occurrence were the deals negotiated in good faith and then quickly broken. Lawmakers often gave hollow excuses rather than logical reasons for not holding up their end of the bargain.

The session itself was disappointing. Small business didn’t ask for much and spent most of the session on the defensive. We tried to convince lawmakers that due to the economy we should be in search of cutting government, not growing it. Also, small business spent a majority of the time staving off the sale of the state compensation fund, as well as protecting the interests of workers comp policyholders from being raided to balance the budget. In the end, there were more losers than winners, as government didn’t tighten its belt, and now the business community is in litigation against the state over a $50 million money “grab” from the State Compensation Fund.

In times like this, one would think the legislative process would only encourage people to become involved in the good fight at the Capitol. Instead, it has left a strong distaste for engaging in a system that once was considered fair. This session certainly validated many people’s comments in the past as a system that rivals watching sausage being made. Perhaps we need to continue to watch the “sausage” making experience so that we can be well informed to choose a better “diet” that will be balanced and fair to the health of Arizona.

Michelle Bolton is the state director of National Federation of Independent Business/Arizona. It has 8,700 members statewide and describes itself as the largest small-business advocacy group in Arizona and the nation. Its Web site is www.nfib.com/AZ