Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski sits at her Collinsville office desk to discuss the issues with Illinois Business Journal Managing Editor Melissa Meske on Aug. 28. (Photo courtesy of Nikki Budzinski’s press office)
By MELISSA CROCKETT MESKE
Managing Editor, Illinois Business Journal
macmeske@ibjonline.com
On Aug. 28, 2025, Illinois Business Journal Managing Editor Melissa Crockett Meske had an opportunity to take part in a one-on-one Q&A with Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski (D-IL-13) at her Metro East office in Collinsville.
Budzinski had relocated her Metro East office back in January 2025 from Belleville to its Collinsville location at 409 Belt Line Road, Suite 110, to be more central to all the Metro East. The Collinsville office is still awaiting signage that would make it a bit easier to find; however, it shares space with the local State Farm agency office.
Other Illinois offices are in Springfield, Champaign and Decatur. And of course, there’s another location in Washington, D.C.
Much of the conversation stemmed from what’s going on in D.C., but first Congresswoman Budzinski answered questions about something else of interest: the New Democrat Coalition. She serves as the vice chair for policy for the NDC.
A ‘golden’ shovel hangs on the wall in the waiting room of Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski’s office in Collinsville, symbolic of the groundbreaking held earlier in 2025 that launched Wieland’s East Alton facility modernization project. (Melissa Crockett Meske/Illinois Business Journal)
IBJ: The New Democrat Coalition – What is it, who is it and why?
Budzinski: “We’re the largest coalition in the House Democratic Caucus. We’re 115 members. There are quite a few members of the Illinois delegation that are members of ‘the New Dems.’ That includes Eric Sorensen, Brad Schneider, Mike Quigley, Sean Caston, Bill Foster and others. What we consider ourselves to be are the kind of the centrist, center-left Democrats that are really focused on getting things done.
“We’re also the members of the House Democratic Caucus that will tend to be open to working with our Republican colleagues. We tend to be more bipartisan, working to get things accomplished. One of the things that we’ve been really working on is the vision for the Democratic Caucus and specifically new Democratic members on what the Democrats are fighting for every day.
“And we’ve hosted at least now about 10 different ‘on the road’ events where we pick a different topic. We bring local stakeholders together. We talk about the issues. I hosted a New Dems on the Road tour stop at SIUE, focused on energy. You know, that’s been a huge issue this summer…”
The Congresswoman continued, delving a bit deeper into the topic of energy and particularly the cost of it jumping so dramatically for constituents, noting, “I’ve heard so much from my constituents about their utility bills going up by upwards of about 20 percent just this summer. We need to be generating more energy, for this and a variety of different reasons.
“But it’s also important as we’re looking at competition,” she continued. “We want to be competing with China. And to do that in the AI race, we need to generate more energy. To compete on the AI issues but also to build out those data centers that AI needs to really thrive.
“So that’s just one example of an issue,” Budzinski said about the work of the New Democrat Coalition and what issues the group is addressing. “How do we cut through the bureaucracy to build more big energy projects faster? And how can we work with Republican colleagues on that? That’s something that the New Democrat Coalition is really focused on. We take a real common-sense approach to the issues.”
Budzinski then transitioned to another current hot button the ‘New Dems’ are taking on: Immigration.
“How are we addressing this broken immigration system? Yes, we’ve focused on securing the border; the border is now secure. But we need to have a pathway for gaining legal status for those people that want to come into our country and work. We know that’s a huge issue for a lot of employers right now.
“Here in Collinsville, we grow a lot of horseradish; we’re the horseradish capital of the world,” Budzinski said further. “We rely on a lot of workers with H-2A visas to do that work. So, immigration is another bipartisan issue that we try to work with. Well, it has been bipartisan previously. The New Dems are trying to make it bipartisan again.”
IBJ: My next questions are regarding actions that have been taken by the Trump Administration since taking office. Many see an abuse of position and power: illegal posturing through executive orders, ICE raids and deployment of the National Guard into cities and states where they haven’t been requested; demonization and criminalization of the LGBTQ+ community, constitutional rights stripped away from American citizens and still more. People are asking: How do we stop the madness?
Budzinski: “We have to stand up to these folks. I think what we have to [do is] speak out on these issues and participate in the protests that are happening all over the district. I’ve been speaking out in Washington on these issues while supporting community efforts. We have weekly protests in Edwardsville. There are protests in Macoupin County every week as well.
“People are stepping forward and speaking out. I’m trying to do the same and use my office as a bully pulpit to speak out in support of some of the most vulnerable folks in our communities. I think the LGBTQ community is one of them that is incredibly afraid of what’s happening. The 988 hotline has been an invaluable resource to the LGBTQ community and young people to get help if they need assistance. This administration zeroed out the 988 funding.
“These things are having real life impacts on people’s everyday lives. Just look at yesterday, with a group of employees at FEMA that were speaking out against what they feel is a lack of preparedness with this administration and saying we will not be ready for the next natural disaster. We sit in the Metro East Area. We get hit by natural disasters like tornadoes and floods pretty regularly. They got put on administrative leave. That is really scary.
“I think we all have to find our own ways to stand up against them. I am certainly trying to do that. It is challenging, though, for the Democratic Party, when we are in the minority in both the House and the Senate. I am focused on winning my re-election but also on being a part of helping us to take back the House majority.
“If we can do that, we have a whole array of different tools at our disposal. We get to control the issues that are brought before the House floor. We get to subpoena. We get to investigate. We can hold this administration accountable. Right now, they are running completely unaccountable. They have a Republican leadership in the legislature that is in a 100% lockstep with them. This next election is going to be critical for us.”
IBJ: Finally, do you have any specifics you can share on what the Democratic Party’s message is going to be going into 2026? Are there any plans in place specifically for how you plan to reunite the party, how you plan to bring blue collar workers back into the party and really strengthen and solidify it again so it can win the next elections?
Budzinski: “I think this next election is going to be about ‘kitchen table issues.’ It’s going to be a lot about healthcare. It’s going to be a lot about affordable and accessible healthcare. When the Big Ugly Bill cut $900 billion of Medicaid and I go and visit Chestnut Community Health Center in Granite City, their doors are only open for our most vulnerable folks because about 80 to 90 percent of their operating revenue is made up of Medicaid dollars that flow through and keep their doors open.
“This is going to have a long-term impact on our communities, and especially in rural communities, given the role of Medicaid and how it’s making healthcare accessible and affordable for all Americans. I would also add that what this administration has done with the ACA, Affordable Care Act — they’re also trying to continue to chip away at that. Republicans have an opportunity to help make healthcare affordable in this country on a longer-term basis by making the ACA premium tax credits permanent. As of now, they expire in January. They didn’t extend those tax credits.
“That means in every county in the 13th Congressional District, premiums are going to probably increase by at least $1,000. That’s going to make it unaffordable for some people to continue to have ACA access. People are going to lose access to healthcare, and I think as Democrats, we need to make the case that we have the plan to make sure that you can maintain or you can obtain affordable healthcare in this country.”
IBJ: And how can the Democratic Party do that?
Budzinski: “I think we can do that in a number of ways. I think we need to make permanent those tax credits for the ACA. I have signed legislation to roll back the harmful effects of this Big Ugly Bill on Medicaid.
I also think one of the things we can be doing to bring down prescription drug costs is PBM (pharmacy benefit manager) reform. These guys are the middlemen who often drive up the cost of prescription drugs in this country and squeeze local pharmacists out of the business. They’ve consolidated a lot of the industry into basically three big players. And because of that consolidation, they’re able to jack up the prices.
“I think those are the things that Democrats champion going into this next election that will help us win. If I were to state a number one issue, I think healthcare is going to be that.”
Ino Saves New
via rk2’s favorite articles on Inoreader https://ift.tt/e5LKdXc
September 14, 2025 at 10:35PM
Illinois Delivered 