ST. PAUL, Minn. – Should retailers who accept SNAP have to reveal how much money they get from the program? That’s the heart of a case before the Eight Circuit Court of Appeals, USA Today reports. The Argus Leader, a newspaper in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, filed suit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture to gain access to the annual amounts retailers receive from food stamps.

The newspaper sued the agency after it refused to grant a Freedom of Information Act for data relating to how much supermarkets, convenience stores and other retailers get through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

Representing the agency, Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Bengford told the three-judge panel that the SNAP payouts to businesses was specifically exempted under the 2008 Farm Bill passed by Congress. The law’s provision mandates that the USDA keep all income and sales tax data collected from SNAP-participating retailers private.

The lawyer for the Argus Leader, Jon Arneson, countered that provision referred only to information gathered on retailer applications to participate, not the data from being in the actual program. “All we’re really asking is how the government spends its money in that instance,” he said. The judges have not said when they will release their decision on the case.

The USDA has always declined to provide how much taxpayer money is given to participating SNAP retailers. The number of businesses in the program has jumped sharply in the last few years, to more than 246,000 in 2012. With such an increase, the agency has seen more instances of fraud at smaller stores, according to the USDA.

Lyle Beckwith, NACS senior vice president for governmental affairs, expressed concern that convenience stores would be unfairly targeted by potential agency rule changes. “I think it's safe to say from everything we’ve heard that we are in their crosshairs,” he said. “If those people are redeeming SNAP benefits at convenience stores, there's a reason for it, because it's the most convenient location for them.”