No Doubting That Batt’s In Charge

In a quiet year for Idaho politics, Gov. Phil Batt dominated as he turned state government Republican after 24 years of Democratic rule.

Batt, a 30-year veteran in state politics, was a little overwhelmed in his first few weeks in office, mainly by the nuclear waste issue. But by the end of the year, few doubted that he was in firm control.

In the fall, he ordered a 2 percent holdback in state spending with indications it would become permanent for state agencies but not necessarily for schools.

He also ended the year preparing the first budget that would be entirely his.

As 1996 dawns, it doesn’t seem that Batt intends to seek another term in 1998 and the maneuvering already has started for the Republican nomination.

Lt. Gov. Butch Otter wants to run, and House Speaker Michael Simpson was probably the most active politician on the circuit of meetings with GOP groups across the state.

Republican Sen. Larry Craig is up for re-election and Democrats will make a determined effort to beat GOP Rep. Helen Chenoweth. But their announced challengers, Walt Minnick and Dan Williams, have only long-shot chances at best.

The Democratic campaigns stirred little interest during 1995, although Chenoweth remained controversial throughout the year.

As leader of the Idaho Republican Party, Batt will have a strong influence in the upcoming election year.

His influence was obvious in last winter’s tax debate. Many lawmakers had ideas on how they wanted to change property or other taxes. But Batt carried out a campaign promise and pushed a $40 million property tax reduction. All other major tax changes were put off in deference to the governor’s program.

There’s another reason why Batt has so much influence over the Legislature. He picked eight of them, including five of the 27 Republicans in the Idaho Senate, for top jobs in his new administration.

All of the people appointed to fill the vacancies were selected by Batt from a list of nominees, so they owe a lot of allegiance to the man who appointed them.

Next session, however, the governor’s sway could get a major test. He supports ending agriculture’s 78-year exemption from the state laws requiring all other employers to carry workers’ compensation insurance.

Batt will assign top aides Roger Madsen, director of the Department of Employment, and State Insurance Fund manager Drew Forney to work the Legislature on that issue. Former senator, Mary Hartung, Batt’s legislative liaison, also will work to get it passed.

But the fact remains the Idaho Farm Bureau and other agricultural interests are against it and last year’s proposal went down to a lopsided defeat on the House floor when Batt did little after initially proposing it.

The same lawmakers will be back next session, and it’s likely that not even Batt’s influence will get it passed.

Batt isn’t going to give the next Legislature an ambitious agenda of new services and programs as was the custom of his predecessor, Democrat Cecil Andrus.

In a recent interview, Batt talked about a new budget up 3 percent to 5 percent. He declared that the last Andrus budget, calling for a 17 percent increase in spending, wasn’t going to be the pattern for his term.

There’s no question that Batt is not as flamboyant or charismatic as Andrus. He prefers to get things organized, approach problems on a businesslike basis and quietly get the work done.

But he hasn’t approached the stature Andrus had with lawmakers: They feared to oppose him, knowing Andrus had a reputation for retaliation.