Fitzsimon File

Good for State Treasurer Richard Moore. Moore not only called for a dollar increase in the state minimum wage Tuesday, he called for it before a meeting co-sponsored by the North Carolina Citizens for Business and Industry, a group that has led the opposition to legislation in the General Assembly to raise the wage.

Most businesses in North Carolina pay more than the $5.15 an hour that the law requires. Moore told the business audience that they ought to support raising the floor for everybody because it’s a competitive issue. Low-wage employers now rely on government programs to provide health care, childcare, and other benefits to employees that many businesses provide.

Moore’s remarks were met by uncertainty from business leaders in attendance and skepticism from some reporters, who presented Moore’s proposal as a way to get attention for his likely campaign for Governor in 2008.

Wachovia CEO Ken Thompson declined to endorse or oppose the minimum wage hike, saying said he hadn’t studied the numbers. Here are some. More than a hundred thousand workers in North Carolina would benefit from an increase in the minimum wage.

 

Despite claims to the contrary, three-fourths of the people who would benefit are 20 or older and half are over 25. Adults earn the minimum wage, not just teenagers. An adult who has a child and works full-time at the current minimum wage of $5.15 an hour is living in poverty, earning well below the federal poverty level for a family of two.

Studies show that an increase in the wage does not cause job loss and a 2004 report found that small businesses in states with a higher minimum wages than the federal government had more small business growth than states without a higher wage. Nine out of 10 of the small businesses surveyed in 1999 by the Jerome Levy Economics said the last minimum wage increase did not effect their employment or hiring decisions.

After defeating a minimum wage bill earlier in the session, the North Carolina House passed legislation last year that would raise the minimum wage by 85 cents an hour and give small businesses a tax credit for offering health insurance to its employees. That bill is now alive in the Senate, though the Senate Finance Committee voted to add all sort of tax cuts to the plan.

Moore responded to charges that he suggested the minimum wage hike for political reasons by saying it would not be an issue in 2008 if the General Assembly passed it in 2006. Good point.

And what if Moore makes raising the minimum wage part of his next campaign for whatever office he runs for? That’s welcome news, not something to bemoan.

Low-wage workers in North Carolina are struggling and North Carolina should do something about it by joining the 17 other states and the District of Columbia that have higher minimum wages than the federal law requires.

Potential candidates worried about the politics of Moore’s announcement ought to endorse the same proposal. The more people talking about raising the minimum wage, the better for the workers who desperately need the help.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 4th, 2006 at 12:54 pm and is filed under Fitzsimon File. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.