Jerry Foxhoven (file photo)
The Iowa Senate has voted to let the man who’s been leading the state’s largest agency stay in the job. Governor Kim Reynolds appointed Jerry Foxhoven to be director of the Iowa Department of Human Services in June, but two-thirds of the members of the Iowa Senate must vote to confirm agency leaders for the positions.
Republican Senator Mark Segebart of Vail read Foxhoven’s resume to his colleagues before Wednesday’s vote.
“You could look long and hard, Mr. Chairman, to find anyone with better qualifications than Jerry Foxhoven,” Segebart said.
Foxhoven had to get 34 “yes” votes in the senate to remain as DHS director. Thirty-eight voted “yes” to confirm him for the job. Eleven senators voted no. Senate Democratic Leader Janet Petersen, one of the “no” votes, said she wanted “more time to get more answers” from Foxhoven about problems in the state-run Medicaid program.
“It’s time for us to say enough is enough,” Petersen said. “We have got to fix DHS.”
Petersen and Segebart were the only two senators to comment on Foxhoven’s nomination.
Foxhoven, an attorney, is a former Drake University professor with a background in child and family law.