BRUNSWICK, Maine — Gov. Janet Mills is talking with legislative leaders about ways the state could help Mainers facing abrupt food stamp cuts due to the federal government shutdown.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture notified states last week that payments under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program won’t be issued in November. Food pantries across the country are bracing for massive need to bridge the gap for a program that serves 170,000 people in Maine with average monthly benefits at $572 per family.
Mills told reporters Monday after a housing event in Brunswick that she is talking to top lawmakers and other members of the Legislature about “any possible alternatives” to the cuts without getting into specifics. The Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate also cast blame on President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans for the problem. Republicans in turn have blamed Senate Democrats for withholding the votes on their plan to avert a shutdown.
“The Republicans control the House of Representatives. The Republicans control the U.S. Senate. The Republicans control the White House,” Mills said.
The governor entered the 2026 race against U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, nearly two weeks ago, lending a more political tone to her official events. The shutdown has been a focus of her young campaign, and she may also have to manage many of its effects when the Democratic-controlled Legislature returns to Augusta in January.
Collins, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, called on the Trump administration to use emergency procedures to protect SNAP benefits in a letter last week. She is also backing a bill from a fellow Republican that would ensure food stamps continue during the shutdown.
In a Monday interview with WVOM, she continued to blame the shutdown that began Oct. 1 on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, whose caucus has voted down Republican bills to keep the government open in an effort to push the majority party to extend Affordable Care Act tax credits that expire at the end of this year.
“This is needless,” Collins said. “This never should have happened.”
Mainers who responded to a University of New Hampshire poll released Monday blamed Republicans and Democrats equally for the shutdown, with 64% saying the GOP bears a lot or some responsibility while 63% said the same for Democrats. The poll of 1,094 Maine residents also found 61% believe Trump bears a lot or some responsibility.
It is unclear how long the government shutdown will last, but the abrupt SNAP cut could be one of the most harmful side effects so far. More than 42 million Americans — or 1 in 10 — get benefits.
Any debate around backfilling the hole with state money could resemble one about a heating aid bill that Mills unveiled in late 2022. It passed after weeks of disagreement between Senate Republicans and the rest of the Legislature, resulting in a $473 million package that included relief checks sent to most Mainers.
The state budget situation was much better at that time, however. Mills has been confronted with major shortfalls in MaineCare, the state’s version of Medicaid, that dominated the Legislature’s work last year. Policymakers could take money from a nearly full rainy day fund, although Mills and Republicans have generally opposed taking large amounts from it.
Mills, with House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, D-Biddeford, at her side Monday in Brunswick after the pair and other officials cut the ribbon on the new Wilbur’s Woods development featuring 21 homes priced at $325,000 each, said she could not tap the rainy day fund unilaterally.
“That’s not available to me,” she said. “I wish it were, but we’re going to look at any other resources we can find.”
Legislative leaders did not immediately provide more details Monday on any SNAP-related discussions, but House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham, R-Winter Harbor, noted Schumer is endorsing Mills’ Senate bid.
“It would be much more productive for her to use her relationship with Schumer to end the shutdown rather than promote alternatives that are months away at best, and pipe dreams at worst,” Faulkingham said.
Fecteau said the issue is personal.
“As a kid whose family relied on food stamps to put food on the table, I know the anxiety that Mainers are feeling about this cruel measure to withhold federal food assistance,” he said.
BDN writer Michael Shepherd contributed to this report.
Correction: An earlier version of this story used an incorrect reference to the money coming into Maine under SNAP.