SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Nikki Budzinski was matter-of-fact about the type of congresswoman she would be.

“I am a workhorse, not a show horse,” Budzinski told Lee Enterprises last year on Jan. 3, just hours before she was set to be sworn in to her first term representing Illinois’ 13th Congressional District.

Her district covers Belleville, Edwardsville, Alton and most of the Metro East’s population.

Just over a year later, Budzinski has held up her end of the bargain.

The freshman lawmaker introduced 15 bills and co-sponsored nearly 300 more during her first year. She touts the closing of more than 700 constituent cases, which often include helping people navigate federal agencies and resolve issues with benefits like Social Security, among other tasks.

She has also been bringing home the bacon, claiming more than $320 million in federal dollars for projects in the district. An analysis from Roll Call last year found Budzinski to be the top Democrat in securing earmarks, which are funds directed by members of Congress towards specific projects.

In a half-hour interview with Lee Enterprises earlier this week to mark her first year in office, Budzinski said she has hope for what lies ahead despite the larger partisan gridlock in Washington.

“I still remain an optimist,” Budzinski said. “And while I outlined some of my frustrations, we’ve been able to make some really good progress on some issues that have supported the communities in the 13th District.”

The 13th Congressional District stretches narrowly from East St. Louis to Champaign-Urbana, picking up Springfield, Decatur and several rural areas in between. Budzinski defeated Republican Regan Deering 56% to 44% in 2022.

Since being sworn in, she said she has prioritized bringing back federal resources to the district.

In Decatur, for example, Budzinski helped secure a $16 million federal grant for the Brush College Road grade separation project. The project had been stalled due to cost overruns, but with the new infusion of cash, shovels were in the ground last October.

In the Metro East region, Budzinski has paid special attention to environmental concerns in Cahokia Heights, where decades of flooding have resulted in raw sewage in yards and homes and may have contaminated the town’s drinking water.

At a House Agriculture Committee hearing last April, Budzinski secured a commitment from EPA Administrator Michael Regan to appoint a coordinator to oversee federal dollars previously secured to address the crisis. The EPA announced the appointment in October.

“Those are the kinds of wins that regardless of some of the political frustrations and toxicity in Washington, I can really deliver for the constituents back home,” Budzinski said.

This body of work has kept the self-described workhorse going despite frustrating gridlock, which included two prolonged votes for House speaker that left the chamber at a standstill.

And even when that most basic organizing got done, not much else did. Only 27 bills were passed and signed into law by President Biden in 2023, making it one of the least productive years for Congress in decades.

Budzinski blames House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., for “catering to the extreme elements of his own conference to the detriment of getting things done,” referencing the consequences of the fragile majority Republicans hold in the House, which has allowed members of the far-right Freedom Caucus to have outsized influence over what comes to the floor for a vote.

But, Budzinski has been able to take advantage of funding that was already appropriated under the previous Congress. Several programs created by laws such as the Inflation Reduction Act are now starting to allocate dollars.

Budzinski touted the designation of the Illinois Fermentation and Agriculture Biomanufacturing Tech Hub (iFAB), led by the University of Illinois and covering Champaign, Macon and Piatt counties, as a “tech hub” by the Biden Administration. This will give the hub the chance to secure between $40 million and $70 million in startup funds.

But Budzinski thinks this is just the beginning, predicting that the region will be in line for more dollars as “the federal government sees all this as stackable investment.”

Namely, she’s bullish on Decatur’s chances of receiving a federal grant to address prime-age employment gaps. The city’s proposal was one of just 22 finalists out of more than 500 applications.

The $50 million proposal entails expanding Richland Community College’s EnRich skills training program with the goal of eventually placing 1,350 prime-age Black Decatur residents in manufacturing jobs in the precision fermentation and electric vehicle industries.

Food processing giants Archer Daniels Midland Co. and Primient and electric compressor manufacturer T/CCI are listed as partners in the endeavor.

Budzinski predicts there will be an answer in early summer.

“It really speaks a lot to the local stakeholders and what an excellent job they did with their application,” Budzinski said. “And now we are working with them to make sure that in this final phase, we’re doing everything we can to keep a competitive edge so we win it.”

Budzinski said she was hopeful that a vote could be held as early as March to get the stalled Farm Bill out of the House and over to the Senate.

The once-every-five-year omnibus bill contains provisions crucial to farmers, such as the crop insurance program, though the vast majority of the funds spent in the bill go toward the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Lawmakers last year extended funding through this September as they continue to hammer out a longer-term deal.

Budzinski, a member of the House Agriculture Committee, said there is “large agreement” on bigger issues like support for crop insurance and that even some of the SNAP elements have been “worked out.”

“I think all of that depends on the ability for Speaker Johnson to stand up to the right wing extreme elements of this party and get a budget done,” Budzinski said. “The budget has sucked a lot of the oxygen out of the room as it relates to getting some of these other issues that are really important done, namely the Farm Bill. If we’re still debating and trying to pass appropriations bills to get a budget done in March, we’re not going to be able to get to the Farm Bill.”

Budzinski, though steadfast in her support for Israel’s right to defend itself following the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack that killed more than 1,200, said that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is “unacceptable and heartbreaking.”

She said she hoped for “a temporary ceasefire” that would allow for the remaining hostages to be released and for humanitarian aid to flow into Gaza. She also reiterated her support for a two-state solution, an idea Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected last week.

“I’m very, very troubled by Netanyahu’s lack of a commitment to it,” Budzinski said. “And I think that we need to be paying very close attention to Netanyahu’s actions and holding him accountable in this conflict. And I do believe that Israel needs to abide by the international rules of war. But I also feel at the same time they have a right to defend themselves as well.”

On the issue of immigration, Budzinski acknowledged that the status quo is broken and needs to be fixed.

“We have a crisis at our border today where there is a massive influx of thousands of illegal immigrants crossing the border and, quite frankly, this administration needs to do more to secure it,” Budzinski said.

Budzinski said she supports a comprehensive approach that would increase funding for border patrol, invest more in technology and offer a pathway to citizenship to some undocumented immigrants, such as “Dreamers” who were brought to the United States as children.

She and her colleagues in the moderate New Democrat Coalition recently sent a letter to Johnson urging him and Republicans to work with Democrats on a bipartisan immigration bill.

Illinois has also seen an influx of asylum-seeking migrants bused here from Texas, which has led to a significant strain on state and local resources. Asked of more federal help might be on the way to help states like Illinois, Budzinski vaguely said “there needs to be assistance in dealing with this crisis.”

Budzinski faced a somewhat competitive race in 2022, but it does not appear it will be the same this year.

The two Republicans who have filed to run in the district, Thomas Clatterbuck of Champaign and Joshua Loyd of Virden, have only $340.41 and $1,769 cash on hand, respectively. And outside groups, such as the National Republican  Congressional Committee and the Congressional Leadership Fund, have indicated no interest in getting involved thus far.

Budzinski has more than $1 million in the bank and most political handicappers have the races as “solid Democrat.”

The same can’t be said for the presidency, where polls show Biden locked in a tight race with former President Donald Trump, who appears on his way to the Republican nomination after winning the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary.

“I think this is a very dangerous moment in our country’s history,” Budzinski said. “And I’m someone that just generally believes that when someone tells you who they are, you should believe them. And I think we should be paying very close attention to what former President Trump is saying.”

“We have a former president in Donald Trump who is saying on day one, he’s going to serve as a dictator,” Budzinski continued. “We have a former president who does not believe or respect free and fair elections and has made it clear that if he is not the victor in an election, then he is going to deny the credibility of that election and walk away as a sore loser and orchestrate with his supporters what happened on January 6.”

Budzinski said there is a need “to do everything we can to prevent a Trump presidency in 2024.”