Foxx, 83, has served as the U.S. representative for District 5 since 2004. Before that, she spent 10 years in the N.C. Senate. She has degrees in English and sociology, as well as an Ed.D. in curriculum and teaching/higher education from UNC Greensboro. She taught at Caldwell Community College and Appalachian State University, where she later held several administrative positions, including assistant dean of the General College. She also served as president and later a consultant at Mayland Community College from 1987-1994. She also served as deputy secretary for management in Gov. Jim Martin’s N.C. Department of Administration.
Candidate Q&A
What do you see as the biggest financial and administrative challenge to implementing the work requirements for Medicaid that were included in the One Big Beautiful Bill?
Foxx did not respond to this question. However, she has supported legislation (as recently as 2023) that recommended work requirements with exemptions for some Medicaid recipients, such as those physically unable to work or enrolled at least part-time in school.
What would be your plan for ensuring the future security/strength of Social Security and Medicare?
Foxx did not respond to this question. In a statement to the Wilkes Journal-Patriot, Foxx said that Congress needs to address the underlying state of its entire budget. She said passing a Constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget would “preserve existing commitments like Social Security.” She also supports a tax deduction for Social Security recipients. “I’m immensely proud to help usher tax cuts for Social Security benefits through passing H.R. 1. The new $6,000 deduction for seniors 65 and older ensures that 88% of seniors will no longer pay taxes on Social Security benefits, helping them to stretch fixed incomes much further. This deduction needs to be made permanent.”
Read more about her thoughts on the issue on her congressional website.
What would you support in Congress as a plan to help control health care/ pharmaceutical costs?
Foxx did not respond to this question. On her congressional website, Foxx said that she remains “committed to bringing patient-centered health care that works for the American people. I support a wide range of reforms to the health care system. This includes legislation to put patients first, bring down costs and expand choices for families, end medical malpractice lawsuits that drive up the cost of health care, and restore competition through association health plans for small businesses.” She noted that as chair of the House Rules Committee, she helped usher the Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act to the House floor. The bill, which passed the House but remains in a Senate committee, would lower health care premiums through cost-sharing reduction payments, require pharmacy benefit managers to be transparent with employers and allow small business owners and independent workers to form Association Health Plans, among other things.
What steps would you take to improve access to health care in rural areas? How do we make the Rural Health Transformation Program successful in North Carolina?
Foxx did not respond to this question. However, she has co-sponsored for several years a bill that would provide incentives to physicians to practice in rural and medically underserved communities. She also spoke about the Rural Health Transformation Program in a news release from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announcing $1.25M to expand preventive, acute and behavioral health care for children in rural NC through the Rural Health Transformation Program. She said the program is “primed to serve rural communities like those in North Carolina’s 5th District … I remain confident that this program will serve our communities in an effective, timely, and consistent manner.”
The rollout of AI is moving fast, including in health care, and leaders in that space are calling for things to slow down. What federal moves should be taken to regulate it, if at all?
No response available. NC Health News could not find anything in the public record on this topic.
Where do you stand on federal vaccine policy? What should be done to prevent future disease outbreaks?
Foxx did not respond to this question, but she was opposed to vaccine mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic. As for preventing future outbreaks, she sponsored the “Pandemic Preparedness, Response, and Recovery Act of 2021,” which sought to form a commission to “review certain regulatory obstacles to preparedness for, response to, and recovery from the COVID–19 pandemic and other pandemic.”
We’ve had some high-profile food contamination outbreaks, yet the federal government is pulling back on regulation of food, air and water. What level of federal regulation do you support and why?
No response available. NC Health News could not find anything in the public record on this topic.
PFAS contamination is a nationwide issue; how do you address it while balancing public safety and business interests?
Foxx did not respond to this question, but she voted for a 2021 law on protecting firefighters from PFAS with training, education and best practices.
The building and placement of data centers have become a big issue, particularly in many rural communities. What should be the federal government’s role, if any, in how these are developed?
Foxx did not respond to this question, but on her congressional website she said: “I was proud to vote for the bipartisan Ratepayer Protection Act, which would protect consumers from higher electricity costs associated with data center development. Across the country, data centers are bringing new investment, jobs, and technological opportunities to local communities. However, their development also raises legitimate questions about the strain on local electric grids and the cost to nearby residents. One principle must remain clear: American families should never be forced to subsidize the electricity needs of large technology companies.”
She added that Congress needs to ensure “onerous regulatory burdens” don’t get in the way of accessing or advancing all forms of energy and “must ensure clean air, clean water and a healthy, safe environment based on science, not top-down regulation.”
Is there anything else you’d like our readers to know?
In response to a similar question from the Wilkes Patriot-Journal, Foxx said:
“My lifelong effort to control costs for Americans means everything to me — it’s personal. I don’t want any American to face the poverty I faced as a child. My family worked our way out of poverty; no government has spent its way out of a problem. I’ve been at the forefront of legislation to attack reckless spending and rising costs.
One of the first laws I authored controlled costs by cracking down on a wasteful paystub policy for federal workers. Another law I authored, the GREAT Act, subjected hundreds of billions of federal dollars annually to greater scrutiny and transparency while streamlining grant reporting to keep federal funds targeted at their core mission.
We are on a journey together as Americans to ensure that our children can experience the opportunities and pursuits that we had afforded to us — we must see it through.”
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