Gov. Butch Otter has signed legislation into law to help permanently disabled law enforcement officers like Mike Kralicek of Coeur d'Alene with health insurance costs for their families. The bill, SB 1111, actually won't help Kralicek, a Coeur d'Alene police officer who was critically injured when a fleeing suspect shot him in 2004, but it'd help others like him in the future. Sen. Mike Jorgenson, R-Hayden Lake, spent five years trying to get the legislation passed. Jorgenson was working on setting up a public signing ceremony for the bill, but last Thursday, he got an urgent call from the governor's office - the deadline for signing the bill was  about to expire. "They said, 'It's got to happen before 2 - could you come over?' " Jorgenson said. "I was there when he signed it - the governor was very considerate in having me come over."

During the legislative session, the governor has just five days to act on a bill passed by the Legislature. He can either sign it into law or veto it; if he takes no action within five days, it becomes law without his signature. Otter has purposely allowed three bills to take effect that way so far this year; it's usually a sign of just lukewarm support. The governor's office said it's working with Jorgenson on a possible after-the-fact public signing ceremony for SB 1111; you can read my full story here at spokesman.com.

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