SEC. 2. ESTABLISHING A UNIFORM REPORTING SYSTEM. 
Section 4 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 
U.S.C. 2013) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(d) ISSUANCE
OF UNIFORM REPORTING GUIDE-
LINES.— 
‘‘(1) REPORTING
GUIDELINES
FOR
RETAIL 
FOOD STORES.—Not later than one year after the 
date of the enactment of the SNAP Transparency 
Act of 2013, the Secretary shall issue guidelines in 
accordance with paragraph (2) that establish a uni-
form reporting system regarding the food items pur-
chased partially or completely with benefits from the 
supplemental nutrition assistance program that can 
be applied with reasonable consistency by each retail 
food store that redeems such benefits. Such guide-
lines should be issued according to best practices of 
monitoring and evaluation studies and analyses. 
‘‘(2) OBJECTIVES OF GUIDELINES.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The guidelines issued 
under paragraph (1) shall provide direction to 
retail food stores that redeem benefits under 
this program on how to report on a quarterly 
basis the complete range, identities, sizes, 
quantites, and costs of particular food items 
purchased with such benefits. This uniform re-
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porting system shall ensure that the reports 
from each retail food store are comparable. 
‘‘(B) 
OBJECTIVES.—Specifically, 
the 
guidelines shall provide direction on what infor-
mation to include to comply with the reporting 
requirements established under paragraph (1): 
‘‘(i) The established uniform, quar-
terly reporting system or form to be made 
available to participating retail food stores. 
‘‘(ii) The identity (including label and 
brand name) of each food item purchased 
with such benefits in the reporting period. 
‘‘(iii) The size of each food item pur-
chased with such benefits in the reporting 
period. 
‘‘(iv) The number of units of each 
identical food item purchased with such 
benefits in the reporting period. 
‘‘(v) The aggregate cost of each iden-
tical food item purchased with such bene-
fits in the reporting period. 
‘‘(vi) The address of the retail food 
store in which the food item was purchased 
with such benefits in the reporting period. 
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‘‘(vii) Application of rigorous moni-
toring and evaluation methodologies to en-
sure that— 
‘‘(I) the total value of benefits re-
deemed by each reporting retail food 
store is equal to the total retail cost 
of food items purchased with such 
benefits reported in the reporting pe-
riod; and 
‘‘(II) the accuracy of the infor-
mation reported in the reporting pe-
riod. 
‘‘(e) SUBMISSION AND PUBLICATION OF REPORTS.— 
‘‘(1) SUBMISSION OF REPORTS BY RETAIL FOOD 
STORES.—Not later than 60 days after end of each 
calendar quarter, or earlier if determined by the Sec-
retary, and in accordance with rules issued by the 
Secretary, each retail food store that redeems bene-
fits under the supplemental nutrition assistance pro-
gram shall submit to the Secretary a report that 
complies with subsection (d). 
‘‘(2) PUBLICATION
OF
REPORTS
BY
SEC-
RETARY.—Not later than 90 days after the end of 
each calendar quarter, or earlier if determined by 
the Secretary, the Secretary shall compile, and shall 
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publish on the Internet in a format searchable by 
the public as compiled, the information received in 
the reports submitted under paragraph (1) for such 
quarter. Such information so compiled shall in-
clude— 
‘‘(A) a comprehensive, timely, comparable, 
and accessible information on the food items 
purchased with benefits from the supplemental 
nutrition assistance program, using the report-
ing requirements established by the Secretary 
under subsection (d)(1); 
‘‘(B) the identity (including label and 
brand name) of each food item purchased with 
such benefits in the reporting period; 
‘‘(C) the size of each food item purchased 
with such benefits in the reporting period; 
‘‘(D) the number of units of each identical 
food item purchased with such benefits in the 
reporting period; 
‘‘(E) the aggregate cost of each identical 
food item purchased with such benefits in the 
reporting period; 
‘‘(F) the address of the retail food store in 
which the food item was purchased with such 
benefits in the reporting period; and 
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‘‘(G) with respect to each type of par-
ticular food item identified, the average retail 
sale price of the item purchased with such bene-
fits.’’. 
SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFINGS IF REQUIREMENTS 
ARE NOT MET. 
If the information described in section 4(e)(2) of the 
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 
2013(e)(2)) with respect to food items purchased with 
benefits from the supplemental nutrition assistance pro-
gram is not provided as required under section 4(e) of 
such Act (7 U.S.C. 2013(e)), then the Secretary shall pro-
vide briefings to the appropriate congressional committees, 
along with a detailed explanation of why the requirements 
for publication on the Internet have not been met and 
when they will be met, with respect to each month for 
which such information is not published on the Internet. 
SEC. 4. OFFSET. 
Of the amount appropriated to carry out the supple-
mental nutrition assistance program for each fiscal year, 
up to 5 percent shall be a available to carry out the 
amendment made by section 2 of this Act. 
SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATES. 
(a) GENERAL EFFECTIVE DATE.—Except as pro-
vided in subsection (b), this Act and the amendment made 
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by this Act shall take effect on the date of the enactment 
of this Act. 
(b) DELAYED EFFECTIVE DATE.—Subsection (e) of 
section 4 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 
2013), as added by section 2 of this Act, shall take effect 
on the 1st day of the 1st calendar quarter that begins 
not less than 1 year after the date of the enactment of 
this Act. 
Æ 
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