Buddy, can you spare a dime?

Cities and towns across the United States have a hard time regulating panhandling. The Supreme Court has ruled that asking a stranger for a buck equals expression, a constitutionally protected right. That’s why ordinances forbidding panhandling or overly restricting the practice tend to fail the constitutional test. Such logic leaves government — including right here in Santa Fe — at a loss when it comes to dealing with complaints from citizens or business owners upset by beggars.

So strict is the Supreme Court ruling that a 2010 ordinance passed by the city outlawing aggressive panhandling likely is unconstitutional. Councilors Renee Villarreal and Signe Lindell, who represent the downtown business district, had wanted even stricter language, but their proposal has been tabled — it’s difficult to place restrictions on people who are asking for money without violating their First Amendment rights.

We don’t blame the two councilors for trying to act. Any visitor to downtown or local walking across the Plaza likely has been stopped by someone who wants like a dollar or two. Occasionally, those panhandlers can be frightening — less begging and more extorting cash. As for rights, what about the ability of a person to go about daily life unmolested?

Considering the law as it stands, Santa Fe needs to change its approach.

If panhandling can’t be regulated enough by ordinance, then train people — visitors and locals alike — to stop handing out cash. We’re not hard-hearted. Government and individuals at all levels should assist people who are out of luck, who need shelter and a warm meal. (We would love to see public showers, bathrooms and more access to laundry facilities, for example.) Individuals should reach out, too, because the broken and poor among us deserve our compassion. As Pope Francis says when discussing the person with a hand out for a dollar, giving to the needy is “always right.”

Giving does not have to mean handing out dollars right and left, though. We like the idea from Chief Patrick Gallagher — install an old parking meter on the Plaza. Let the generous leave donations for the needy there, where they can be directed to city-funded programs that help the homeless. We have written before about what happens in Durango, Colo. There, shoppers are asked, nicely, not to give handouts. Instead, they leave change or dollars in a box by the cash register. Again, the money is donated to people in need, without individual begging.

The city should move forward with these ideas so that all of us stop handing out money, one dollar at a time.

The rest of the pope’s message, though, is worth remembering, too. Pope Francis believes what is most important about the interaction between giver and panhandlers is for people to acknowledge one another’s common humanity. Look at the person asking for help, smile, ask how they are doing and treat them as though they are important. For people who like helping individually, pass out bundles of toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap and other personal hygiene items. Gift cards for coffee or for food are other ways to help out.

It would be useful, too, if help for the homeless — lists of shelters, programs, phone numbers, the like — were placed on fliers around town so that individuals can find out what resources are available.

Compassion, though, does not mean that cities don’t have the responsibility to keep streets safe. The skeptics among us are quick to point out that many of the homeless men and women in our city are not the ones doing the panhandling; the problem of street beggars can sometimes be less an issue of poverty and more one of shiftlessness. When the begging becomes overly aggressive, or targets the vulnerable elderly, it is easy to believe these are criminals in the making, not simply people who have had a run of bad luck. That’s why the city and its police force should use other laws on the books, when necessary, to keep Santa Fe safe. Panhandling ordinances will not do the job.

After all, the law of the land protects the right to ask for money. That being the case, let’s give help in other ways — donate to programs that relieve homelessness or set up a system that will collect money downtown to aid panhandlers. Put together gift bags to hand out as a way to keep the human touch alive.

Slow down the flow of cash, though, and watch the panhandlers move along — not because anyone pushed them out but because they can’t make enough money here. That would avoid violating the constitution and make the streets more pleasant.