State pays a high price for low minimum wage.

• Position: ECONOMIC OUTLOOK - Interview

State Treasurer Richard Moore wants the General Assembly to increase the minimum wage in North Carolina to $6.15 an hour. It would be the first time since 1973--and only the second time in history--that the state's minimum wage exceeded the federal one. Both are now $5.15. Though minimum-wage law is administered by the Department of Labor, he has been beating the drums for an increase as he talks with legislators, business leaders, civic groups and others.

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BNC: The legislature couldn't pass an increase last session. Why push it again?

Moore: It is a pro-family, pro-business, pro-North Carolina policy that makes good sense. When you adjust the current minimum wage for the rise in prices since the last wage increase in 1997, it's actually worth less than it was before 1997. When you look at a longer time horizon, the minimum wage is at its second-lowest point in the last 50 years. While the cost of just about everything has been going up, the real value of the minimum wage has actually gone down to historic lows.

What good will it do?

It will pay minimum-wage workers an extra $173 each month, before taxes. That is money a worker can spend in our local businesses, save for the future or use to feed and clothe his family. That makes it less likely that taxpayers will have to pick up the tab for health-care bills, for food assistance and for other kinds of public assistance.

Who will be helped most?

It would benefit more than 100,000 North Carolina workers. More than half of them are over the age of 25, and three-quarters are over the age of 20. Almost a third of minimum-wage workers in our state are full-time employees. It also will help thousands of teenagers and college students. One of the most troubling statistics I've heard recently is that more students drop out of college because of financial reasons than because of grades. So it won't hurt to put more money in the pockets of our students.

How will it help businesses?

The current minimum wage may put businesses that pay a better wage at a competitive disadvantage. I have talked with many business owners and managers about this. Not only were they shocked to find out that the minimum wage was so low, but they said that they pay well above it. However, if your competition pays the minimum, their employees are almost forced to use public programs paid for by your tax dollars to get by. In effect, you end up subsidizing your competitor's business.

Without productivity...