A two-year extension of Cincinnati's panhandler registration ordinance ought not go begging for council votes. Yet some members and homeless advocates still brand registration as infringing on a panhandler's free speech rights. They are wrong, and it would be folly to dismantle an innovative program.

Last year, by a 5-3 vote, City Council required beggars to register with the police, and also called for a social worker to connect panhandlers with social services, including meals and housing. Downtown Cincinnati Inc. agreed to pay for that "outreach." By all accounts, Brent Chasteen has been a big success, and Tuesday, before the Law Committee, he said the law has given him extra leverage to persuade panhandlers to let him help them. "I think we are learning something new here," he said.

Chasteen reported that since June, he has contacted 204 panhandlers and helped remove 78 from the streets, 52 of them into housing or treatment. He helped relocate eight to other cities. Some backslide, but downtown retailers testified that complaints against panhandlers have dropped.

Councilmen Pat DeWine, a Republican, and David Crowley, a Democrat, deserve credit for combining enforcement with social work. Why pick apart success? The law doesn't even apply to nonverbal begging. Beggars can beg with signs any time. Registration is free, and delegated to the Health Department. The city makes street vendors pay for a license. Does that infringe on their rights?

City Councilman David Pepper, chairman of the Law Committee, asks why objecting agencies such as the Coalition for the Homeless don't do outreach themselves with panhandlers. "We fund a lot of those (agencies') services," Pepper said.

And what about the rights of downtown visitors and workers? Since June, 155 arrests have been made, involving 86 different panhandlers. About 55 arrests were for soliciting without a license. Police didn't track how many were for aggressive panhandling. But clearly, registration has given police and Chasteen leverage to reduce nuisance begging, which ranked first or second on complaint surveys.

The issue is scheduled for a vote in council today. Council should pass the two-year extension.