Maine Gov. Janet Mills faces mounting pressure to call a special session of the Legislature to address impending cuts to federal food assistance, including from a Democratic lawmaker who argues that a recent amendment to the state’s constitution guarantees a right to food.

Sen. Craig Hickman, an organic farmer from Winthrop who co-authored the constitutional amendment in 2021, said a special session is needed to cover an anticipated $29 million gap in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which is expected to run out of money on Saturday, ending assistance for 170,000 Mainers, including children, seniors and people with disabilities.

“Food is life,” Hickman said. “We must act, and we must act swiftly.”

The senator made his case in a letter dated Oct. 29 and sent to Mills, Senate President Mattie Daughtry and House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, all Democrats.

Also Thursday, a group of anti-hunger advocates, including the Maine Center for Economic Policy and Full Plates, Full Potential, called for a special session so lawmakers can consider using some of the state’s $1 billion rainy day fund to provide food assistance.

“This is an all-hands-on-deck moment for our state government,” Robyn Merrill, executive director of Maine Equal Justice, said in a written statement. “If federal funds are not received by Saturday, the resulting lapse in SNAP benefits would cause immediate and severe harm — to families, to communities, and to Maine’s economy. The Legislature has the authority to use the state’s rainy day fund, which should exist for emergencies just like this.”

Daughtry did not comment directly about a possible special session, but she expressed her “strong commitment to work with my colleagues to protect the people of Maine.”

“While we as a state need to stay creative and collaborative to weather this — we must not forget who is to blame,” she said, referring to President Donald Trump. “The USDA has the funds needed for this vital program. This is a deliberate punishment and attack on states. Food is not a weapon.”

Fecteau said in a written statement that he’s open to a special session, but only if Republican legislative leaders, Senate Minority Leader Trey Stewart and House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham, publicly endorse the effort.

“I’ll support a special session if the shutdown persists and if Rep. Faulkingham and Sen. Stewart make a public commitment that Republicans will support a bill to cover food assistance for kids, families and seniors,” Fecteau said.

Stewart, however, pointed the finger at Senate Democrats and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer for not supporting a stopgap funding bill, known as a continuing resolution, that’s already passed the U.S. House and that has been supported by Maine’s delegation, with the exception of Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-2nd District.

“There’s no need for a special session to fix the Schumer shutdown mess,” Stewart said. “SNAP benefits will resume once D.C. Democrats end their tantrum and back the bipartisan clean CR.”

Mills announced Wednesday that she is directing $1.25 million, primarily from her contingency account, to support local food pantries and anti-hunger programs throughout the state, which are bracing for a surge in demand once benefits stop on Saturday.

When asked Wednesday whether she would call a special session or tap the state’s $1 billion rainy day fund, Mills said her administration is “considering all options.” Her office did not respond directly to questions Thursday about Hickman’s letter but reiterated that she’s looking at all options.

The governor also has called on the Trump administration to use about $5 billion in congressionally approved contingency funds to continue providing SNAP benefits during the federal government shutdown.

During the previous shutdown, in 2018-19, the Trump administration authorized SNAP benefits to continue, but the administration warned states that benefits would no longer be available beginning Nov. 1.

Hickman joins Sen. Rick Bennett, an independent from Oxford who is running for governor, in calling for a special session. Hickman said the Maine Constitution requires the state to ensure that no Mainer goes hungry as a result of the shutdown.

Maine voters approved adding a right to food in the Maine Constitution four years ago. It’s the first such constitutional amendment in the United States. The amendment, in part, states that “all individuals have a natural, inherent and unalienable right to food.”

Proponents pitched the amendment as a way to ensure local farmers could grow vegetables and raise livestock amid a corporate takeover of food production. But opponents argued the language was vague.

Since its passage, hunters have tried unsuccessfully to use it to overturn the state’s prohibition on Sunday hunting. Maine’s Law Court upheld the state law.

Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey on Monday joined a multistate lawsuit seeking to force the Trump administration to use the $5 billion in contingency funding approved by Congress and continue providing benefits under SNAP.

The judge in that case, Indira Talwani of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, hinted at a hearing Thursday that she was likely to order the Trump administration to use reserves to partially fund food assistance.

“Congress has put money in an emergency fund, and it is hard for me to understand how this is not an emergency,” Talwani said, according to the Washington Post.

U.S. Sen. Angus King of Maine, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, also introduced federal legislation this that would force the Trump administration to continue SNAP, as well as WIC funding for women, infants and children, during the shutdown. King’s bill would also reimburse states that continue to provide benefits. King and Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine also have supported a similar bill sponsored by Josh Hawley, R-Missouri.

Hickman, however, said Maine shouldn’t leave it up to the courts or wait for federal lawmakers.

“Our constituents cannot afford to take that chance,” Hickman said. “The people of Maine cannot afford to wait.”