Idaho has named the highway department headquarters in Boise after former Governor Phil Batt.
At a ceremony Thursday, Batt told the crowd the building is over 50 years old. “They been hunting for the oldest person to name it after. I’m 86. They found me," Batt joked. "Of course I’m highly honored, there are many more deserving people than I, I have only one thing to say to them, tough luck it’s mine.”
Batt later turned serious. He says he favors hiking gas taxes and other road related fees again. Batt was governor in 1996 when he successfully moved Idaho's gas tax from $.21 to $.25.
Batt told the crowd of state officials and lobbyists at what's now the "Phil Batt Building" that Idaho should raise user fees to help the state’s roads and bridges.
Copyright 2013 Boise State Public Radio
