Late Gov. Phil Batt likely would find no home in today’s Idaho Republican Party | Opinion

Idaho Gov. Phil Batt was, by nearly all accounts, a great governor, a gentleman and a true statesman who would reach across the aisle to look for solutions to real problems facing Idahoans.

All Idahoans — not just those in his party.

Batt died over the weekend on his 96th birthday.

The Idaho Republican Party of today looks nothing like the party Batt led in the 1990s, though.

It’s hard to believe that Batt, of Wilder, hails from the same county that elected state Sen. Brian Lenney, who last week tweeted out a photo of President Abraham Lincoln, referring to him as “the guy who started the war between the states.”

Party of Lincoln, indeed.

It was eight years ago at the Canyon County Lincoln Day dinner that Batt was the keynote speaker. In advance of his speech, he told Idaho Press-Tribune reporter Kelcie Moseley that the animosity between Republicans and Democrats was troubling.

“There’s more of an adversarial relationship between parties now, which I don’t think is healthy,” Batt told Moseley. He said he used to have productive conversations with Democrats on a regular basis, and he knew many others who did the same.

“It’s not so much like that anymore, which I think is too bad,” he said.

That was in 2015. If he said that today, surely he’d be labeled a RINO (Republican In Name Only). Look what happened to Jeff Agenbroad and Jim Woodward, two state senators who lost to challenges from far-right Republicans Lenney and Scott Herndon.

Batt had other ideas about good governance and priorities for Idaho.

“The Legislature and governor are trying to reduce taxes, but I think it’s more important to worry about schools and other opportunities (for growth),” Batt told the Idaho Press-Tribune.

He also said that he would vote for Medicaid expansion, fought vigorously by Republicans; that high tuition and fees at Idaho’s colleges and universities was a problem; and that it was time to raise vehicle registration fees to address lagging transportation funding.

“In my day we advanced the gas tax to cover depreciation,” Batt said. “Since then we’ve fallen way behind.”

As has been pointed out in several articles marking Batt’s death, Batt’s one term as governor is noted for several practical solutions to vexing problems of his day.

In 1995, he crafted a deal that curbed nuclear waste dumping in Eastern Idaho, still known as the Batt Agreement.

In 1996, he signed a bill that protected farmworkers injured on the job.

He also was instrumental in establishing the Idaho Human Rights Commission, and he continued to champion civil rights in retirement, urging fellow Republicans to extend protections to the LGBTQ community. For those efforts, a forthcoming education center at Boise’s Wassmuth Center for Human Rights will bear his name, according to Idaho Statesman reporter Ryan Suppe.

Sadly, Batt’s ability to achieve those successes and to practice politics with decency highlight the things that would get him shunned by his own party today: bipartisanship, empathy and a focus on practical solutions to real problems.

Former Gov. Dirk Kempthorne and current Gov. Brad Little and Lt. Gov. Scott Bedke sang Batt’s praises.

“He is the epitome of what a good public servant is,” Ben Ysursa, former Idaho secretary of state, told the Statesman.

“The guy was the epitome of conservatism in the old-fashioned sense,” said Trent Clark, who served as GOP chairman while Batt was governor.

“His legacy is distinguished by his unrelenting human rights leadership, determined fiscal conservatism, and enduring love of Idaho,” Little said.

“He was a titan in Idaho politics and cared deeply about our great state,” U.S. Sen. Jim Risch wrote in a press release.

Meanwhile, the only thing the Idaho Republican Party could muster on Facebook was a lame statement: “Former Idaho Governor Phil Batt has died today at the age of 96. Our condolences to his family. May he rest in peace.”

There’s little doubt that today’s Idaho Republican Party would reject Batt’s message, as he told the Idaho Press-Tribune in 2015: “Respect each other and have more dialogue.”

Statesman editorials are the unsigned opinion of the Idaho Statesman’s editorial board. Board members are opinion editor Scott McIntosh, opinion writer Bryan Clark, editor Chadd Cripe and newsroom editors Dana Oland and Jim Keyser.