aGameOfThrones
10-23-2013, 11:29 PM
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- A three-judge panel will decide whether the payments that businesses receive for participating in the federal food stamp program should remain secret.
The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday heard a case brought by the (Sioux Falls, S.D.) Argus Leader, a newspaper owned by Gannett Co. Inc., USA TODAY's parent company, against the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps. The Argus Leader sued the department in 2011 after it refused a Freedom of Information Act request to supply the yearly amounts that taxpayers have paid grocers, gas stations and other businesses each year that participate in SNAP.
STORY: Appeals court to decide about openness of food stamps
Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Bengford, who represented USDA, argued that Congress specifically exempted the release of SNAP payments to businesses when it authorized the 2008 Farm Bill. A provision in the law requires the department to keep confidential income and sales tax information that it collects from businesses when they apply to participate in SNAP.
But Argus Leader attorney Jon Arneson argued that the information collected from businesses when they applied to be part of the program didn't include the payments they receive from taxpayers once they are in the program. Arneson also argued that USDA wouldn't ask retailers to provide information on applications that USDA already possesses.
"All we're really asking is how the government spends its money in that instance," said Arneson.
During the hearing in St. Paul, Minn., Judge Steven Colloton said that the information requested by the Argus Leader didn't appear to be the same information that USDA is required to keep confidential in its application process.
"They want to know how much the government paid in a given year," he said.
Chief Judge William Jay Riley asked Bengford why the USDA wanted to protect that information from public release.
"What is it about this information that should be kept secret?" he asked.
Bengford replied that the amounts businesses earn from food stamps are reviewed by investigators who are trying to stop food stamp fraud.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/10/23/food-stamps-business-payments/3172873/
The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday heard a case brought by the (Sioux Falls, S.D.) Argus Leader, a newspaper owned by Gannett Co. Inc., USA TODAY's parent company, against the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps. The Argus Leader sued the department in 2011 after it refused a Freedom of Information Act request to supply the yearly amounts that taxpayers have paid grocers, gas stations and other businesses each year that participate in SNAP.
STORY: Appeals court to decide about openness of food stamps
Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Bengford, who represented USDA, argued that Congress specifically exempted the release of SNAP payments to businesses when it authorized the 2008 Farm Bill. A provision in the law requires the department to keep confidential income and sales tax information that it collects from businesses when they apply to participate in SNAP.
But Argus Leader attorney Jon Arneson argued that the information collected from businesses when they applied to be part of the program didn't include the payments they receive from taxpayers once they are in the program. Arneson also argued that USDA wouldn't ask retailers to provide information on applications that USDA already possesses.
"All we're really asking is how the government spends its money in that instance," said Arneson.
During the hearing in St. Paul, Minn., Judge Steven Colloton said that the information requested by the Argus Leader didn't appear to be the same information that USDA is required to keep confidential in its application process.
"They want to know how much the government paid in a given year," he said.
Chief Judge William Jay Riley asked Bengford why the USDA wanted to protect that information from public release.
"What is it about this information that should be kept secret?" he asked.
Bengford replied that the amounts businesses earn from food stamps are reviewed by investigators who are trying to stop food stamp fraud.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/10/23/food-stamps-business-payments/3172873/