Panel Delays Decision on Airport Soliciting : Fund raising: Charitable groups say a proposed ban would impose a severe financial hardship. They call for an alternative plan.

The Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners postponed a decision Monday on a proposal to forbid groups from soliciting for money in terminals at Los Angeles International and Ontario airports.

The commission agreed to hold off its decision after several charitable organizations argued that the measure would force them to undergo a severe financial hardship.

The proposed solicitation ban, which was based on a June U.S. Supreme Court ruling upholding a New York statute, was withdrawn during a meeting crowded by members of dozens of charity groups urging the commissioners to come up with an alternative plan.

“With all the budget cuts in youth programs, if you vote to ban us from airports, we will go out of business,” said Alex Poe, the founder of the Right Way Youth Activities, an organization that uses donations collected by teen-agers to provide trips, tutoring and clothing money for inner-city youths.

The measure would have given police the authority to eject anyone soliciting donations inside airport terminals. But the ban would not have restricted fund raising on sidewalks outside the terminals, authorities said. And the measure would not have prevented groups from going into the terminals to hand out flyers and conduct other free speech activities.

Commissioner Jack Tenner supported the solicitation ban, saying its narrow focus balanced the free speech rights with the rights of travelers.

Commissioner Johnie L. Cochran questioned whether there were alternative ways to balance those rights. He said that other airports around the country had worked out compromises without resorting to an all-out prohibition on solicitation.

Commissioner Maria Elena Durazo said she was not convinced the measure would resolve the problem or force more groups to congregate on the street or in nearby parking lots.

Attorney David M. Liberman, who represents the Hare Krishna’s Los Angeles chapter, urged the commission to meet with representatives of the group and consider alternatives.

He said a ban would be an infringement of civil liberties. The collection of donations, he added, is a “time-honored” 1st Amendment expression.