NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A Republican state senator is calling the lack of funding for SNAP, also known as food stamps, a humanitarian crisis.

State Sen. Paul Bailey (R-Sparta) urged Governor Bill Lee to "find a way to protect Tennessee families from losing access to essential food benefits" earlier this week.

Governor Lee responded by providing $5 million from the state's TennCare reserves to go to food banks.

But State Senator Bailey said on Inside Politics that if the shutdown continues, the state will have to do more.

"We're not doing enough, if this federal government shutdown continues past this week, we'll have to be tapping into those reserves," State Senator Bailey said.

Some Democrats have called for a special session and pushed to use the state's large rainy day fund to

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