Editorial

Gov. Bob Taft signed a bill into law Tuesday to help people with low to moderate incomes pay their heating bills. The bill came on the seventh day of spring.

Project Temporary Heating Assistance for Warmth, or THAW, is designed to combat the high fuel costs and low temperatures of winter that left many in fear of having their heat turned off. Eligible families and single adults can receive a one-time payment of $250 for heating bills accrued from Oct. 1, 2000 to March 31, 2001.

But the bill is just now being signed thanks to government red tape that had legislators arguing about what constitutes a single adult and whether the money could help pay for utility late fees.

It is understandable that details must be worked out. But when there is an obvious need for the help at a certain time of year, legislators must be mindful of playing the political game and just work for their constituents.

Taft tried to help the process by declaring a moratorium on shutting off heat to those who had not paid their bills. But this would have been unnecessary if legislators had eliminated the red tape that tends to hold the legislative bills for so long.

Some Project THAW applicants received notice that they had been accepted, but the funds were not yet available. This did them no good and in fear, they skimped by and scraped up enough money to go ahead and pay their bills, defeating the purpose of the project.

Now that temperatures are rising, legislators can think about next winter so that when people need help with their heating bills, they don't have to wait until the flowers are blooming to get the money.

States debate backgroud checks

Across the nation, state legislatures are debating background checks for volunteers who work with children. Ohio is no exception.

In the fall, Ohio's legislators passed a bill with just enough provisions for parents to feel safe when sending their children to Little League or camp.

Organizations are allowed to check volunteers' criminal records or hopefully lack thereof. But they are not allowed to release the information to parents. By doing this, parents can rest assured that their children will not fall in the wrong hands; at the same time, parents do not invade the volunteers' private lives.

Now the responsibility falls on the organizations to form a uniform policy that cannot be challenged for loopholes or discrimination. Organizations should not have the right to choose who appears to have a criminal background and who doesn't on an arbitrary basis. They need to have an all-or-nothing policy - either all volunteers will have to submit to a background check or no one will have to submit.

Organizations also need to assess what kind of offenses will constitute a volunteer's dismissal. Sex offenders and those with violent crimes on their records are pretty obvious choices, but a range of crimes is left to evaluate. These judgements, like the background checks, must not be on a discretionary basis. Instead, a set list of convictions in a certain amount of time should be in place.

Organizations have the responsibility to both the children and volunteers to set policies that will protect everyone involved. Children should not be with people who have the potential to harm or wrongly influence them, and volunteers should not feel harassed for donating their time and talent.