North Carolina's pension fund for state workers and retirees stands at a healthy $79 billion, and Richard Moore, North Carolina's state treasurer, has sole responsibility for it. He is entitled to take credit for the fund's sound condition, as he makes the final decision on which money managers to hire to help his office invest the money. What's unfortunate is that in his political fund-raising, he has collected many thousands of dollars from people associated with those investment firms.

There is nothing illegal about raising money from these sources, and Moore is by no means the first state official, or the first state treasurer, to accept campaign contributions from people doing business with the state. Still, the pattern looks bad, in that it suggests the companies are seeking favored treatment.

As things stand, 88 companies have contracts with Moore's office to help invest the pension funds. An analysis by The Charlotte Observer, reported in Sunday's N&O, found that as of June, 2006, employees or political action committees for 42 of the companies have contributed to Moore. Their donations totaled $736,200 since 1999, when Moore first ran for state treasurer (he was elected in 2000 and again in 2004).

The 42 companies were paid $101.8 million last year to handle state business. That's about two-thirds of the total paid by the treasurer's office to all 88 outside investment firms.

The treasurer's goal, of course, is to give the state's business to those firms that can generate the best returns, according to the state's conservative investment guidelines. Forbes magazine, which did its own story on the contributions, asked for documentation on how successful money managers/campaign donors have been with their investment of pension money, but according to the magazine, Moore said reports on that subject were unavailable.

The law does allows Moore to pass the hat on Wall Street, but he doesn't have to. In fact, this would be a splendid opportunity for Moore -- a presumptive Democratic candidate for governor next year -- to show superior leadership in helping to shore up the people's trust in their government. Let him set a good example and simply declare that he will forgo these contributions, with their unavoidable appearance of favors sought and possibly bestowed. It would be an especially timely gesture, with North Carolinians reeling from the bribery scandal involving former House Speaker Jim Black.

It's true that if Moore took the ethical high road and renounced contributions from people seeking the state's lucrative business, he might be putting himself at a political disadvantage just as he's positioning himself for an expensive run for the governor's office.

The General Assembly could deal with the underlying problem by addressing the issue of special interest contributions to candidates for statewide office, especially to those who have regulatory authority over various industries or who make decisions worth huge sums to the private sector. A public campaign financing system remains the best long-term solution.

But even if legislators failed to act, other candidates could, and should, level the field voluntarily by refusing to accept such contributions. It would be in the interest of good government and of sensitivity to the legitimate concerns of voters. Treasurer Moore, now's the time to lead the way.

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