Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – Most Democrats on Capitol Hill voted against the bill to reopen the federal government. That includes U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski (pictured) (D-Springfield).

Democrats wanted a solution to the rising cost of health insurance.

But if I’m going without a federal paycheck, if I am going without my SNAP benefits, if the air travel chaos has cost me that last trip to see a dying loved one, how can a member of Congress look me in the eye and say that voting against the re-opening is the right vote?

“It’s very hard,” Budzinski said shortly before the vote Wednesday night. “I will tell you, I have spent a lot of time in the district talking to food banks, talking to our farmers’ markets, that are seeing those federal workers come in themselves now for the first time looking for assistance, and it’s heartbreaking. But what is also heartbreaking is I am hearing about premiums that are moving from $300 a month to $800 a month. We live in the richest country in the world, and health care should be affordable and accessible to all Americans.”