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ISSUES

Mike Lefor

HEALTHCARE

  • Representative Lefor was appointed to the local hospital foundation board beginning in 1997, and served as board president for four years until his term on the board ended in 2005. The board raised funds for many projects to make our hospital better equipped to take care of our citizens.

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  • Served twelve years on the local hospital board. During Representative Lefor's time on the board, he served as board chair for six years. It was during this time that he led the charge and successfully negotiated with the hospital sponsor, CHI, and the Stark County Commission to purchase land for a future hospital. In addition, he served on the inter-community board to gain the important critical access designation for our hospital, which improved reimbursement rates.
     

  • Representative Lefor worked on developing a plan for a new healthcare facility once the land was purchased. This included many discussions with the hospital sponsor to locate a new healthcare facility in Dickinson. In addition, he was forceful in getting a new clinic added to the new facility. The sponsors governing board gave approval to the plan and, as a result, a new healthcare facility was built in Dickinson, opening in 2014.
     

  • The hospital leadership named the CHI St. Alexius Health hospital cafeteria “Lefty’s” (Mike's nickname) as a tribute to his leadership. He worked on a project to lower the interest rate on a portion of the debt realized by the new hospital through the Bank of North Dakota, lowering the debt service cost.
     

  • Once his time on the board was completed, Representative Lefor was appointed to the CHI National Governance Task Force in Denver. With that position, he was able to meet with their national board of stewardship trustees on a quarterly basis. This position allowed our community to have a voice at the table when decisions were made.
     

  • Representative Lefor was appointed to serve on the CHI St. Alexius board of directors in April 2017, where he served two years as vice chairman. He is now in his second term on the board. In addition to his service on the board, Representative Lefor was appointed to serve on the hospitals executive committee and joint conference committee. When the newly created four hospital board began in 2019 (Dickinson, Williston, Devils Lake and Carrington), he was named to the board and was elected chair of the board. He continues to serve on both boards.
     

  • For nearly nine years, he served on the newly created Health at Home board (Fargo) for hospice care in the state of North Dakota, including one term as vice chair of the board. This board was a newly created entity and today serves several communities throughout the state.

LEGISLATIVE

  • Representative Lefor was recognized by the Greater North Dakota Chamber with the Chamber Champion designation three times in his legislative career. This designation shows a strong voting record and support for small businesses in the state.
     

  • In 2017 (second session), he was elected by his fellow Republicans to serve as Majority Caucus Chair, which is a position in House leadership.
     

  • Representative Lefor was elected by the House Republican Caucus to serve on the Legislative Management committee in 2017 and re-elected to additional terms and serves on the committee today.
     

  • During his second interim session, he was appointed to be the chair of the Employee Benefits Programs Committee, a committee which oversees any legislation in reference to the state employees retirement system. The following interim session he was re-appointed for an additional two year term as chair.
     

  • In his fourth interim session, he was appointed chair of the Retirement Committee which is being tasked with looking into changing the state retirement system from a defined benefit to a defined contribution plan and to provide legislation to the next legislative assembly.
     

  • For four consecutive sessions, he has served on the Industry, Business, and Labor Committee, rising to vice chair in the 2019 session and becoming chairman of the committee in 2021. Additionally, he has served on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee in which has given a western voice to legislation affecting energy and water development in our state.

LEGISLATION

In his four sessions in the legislature, he has been involved in sponsoring or co-sponsoring legislation which has had a great impact on our state.

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A few examples:

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  • An amendment offered by Rep. Lefor added a seat on the State Water Commission to a resident of southwest North Dakota,  giving our part of the state a bigger voice in water related matters.
     

  • The prime sponsor for the “Legacy Streams” bill which provides a direction for the allocation of the legacy fund earnings including investments in major water projects and tax reform.
     

  • A co-sponsor of the important “Prairie Dog” legislation which provides hub city funding to Dickinson and Stark County. In the past eight years, the city of Dickinson has received over $90 million from this funding and prior, which has been used to lower debt and for much needed infrastructure.
     

  • A co-sponsor of the Legacy Fund bill which requires that 20% of the legacy fund principal be invested within the state of North Dakota. This bill is projected to create thousands of jobs and gives many financial institutions in the state the ability to bid on investment  portfolios in the state.
     

  • A co-sponsor of a bill which invests dollars in the state to attract venture capital and businesses to the state.
     

  • The prime sponsor of a bill which updated the ways citizens interact with the municipal court system in the state via interactive technology.
     

  • Co-sponsor in providing $10 million of privately raised money to be endowed to the Dickinson State University Heritage Foundation. The donation was received in December 2021.
     

  • Worked with other legislators to improve funding for the Southwest Water project many times over the years.

OTHERS

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