He earned his B.S. degree from the College of St. Thomas and a second B.S. degree in medicine from the University of South Dakota. He received his doctor of medicine degree from Creighton University in 1956. After a 3-year residency in anesthesiology at the Mayo Clinic, Belatti returned to work at Sioux Valley Hospital (now Sanford) in Sioux Falls. He also worked at the Veterans Hospital in Sioux Falls. He has served in both chambers of the South Dakota Legislature—from 1989 to 1992 representing Minnehaha County in the state Senate and from 1995 to 1998 as a state representative from Lake County. He served on the South Dakota Board of Regents from 2003 to 2009. Belatti is active in Rotary, the Knights of Columbus, and the American Legion. He also served for a time on the Madison School Board.