Occupation: Maryland State Delegate, representing MoCo’s 20th District
Affiliations: Maryland Democratic Party. Former Interim Chief of Staff and senior legislative aide to term-limited CM Nancy Navarro, District 4, Montgomery County Council, 2009-10.
Background: A state delegate since 2015, Mr. Moon somehow became statehouse majority leader in 2023. Born in Takoma Park, MD and has seemingly never left the ideological farm. We’ve written about Takoma Park affluence, snobbery and kook public policy influences on MoCo at-large frequently.
Hates growing prosperity in MoCo? Yes. Unless it is legal pot, of which Mr. Moon is a big proponent. Upon entering Annapolis, he sponsored pot legalization three straight years (only to have these attempts rejected). Trying a new tactic, he and others went to a ballot referendum they knew would likely pass, especially in an anti-Trump election season in Maryland. The state of MD, desperate for sweet sales tax cash and with mounting debts, finally went all in on a “legal pot” regime in 2023. Curiously, the delegate says next to nothing about MoCo government holding a monopoly on the liquor market for adult consumers. It is almost as if… the taxation is the main goal, not personal choice for adults or free markets for entrepreneurs.
Why/how? Thanks for asking. Aside from pumping the legal pot regime, the delegate seems to be pretty pro-public drug use but anti-business and private property rights. The delegate was the lone sponsor of House Bill 1515 in 2024, which, according to Fox Baltimore, “proposes lowering the state sales tax from six percent down to five percent – while also broadening the tax base to include dozens of services. The proposal calls to tax things like car repairs, pet grooming, house cleaning, tax preparation services, and funeral or cremation services.” Delegate Moon claimed it was a “conversation starter” and unfortunately, eventually higher regressive taxes and fees did pass in Maryland in 2024 (car registration fees will be hiked, for example). The delegate in 2022 and 2023 also co-sponsored House Bill 481, which would decriminalize the possession of syringes, hypodermic needles and “any other tools necessary to introduce drugs into the body intravenously.” This would undoubtedly lead to more needles and syringes being littered in public areas and parks (and near young children).
Fun fact: The delegate claims to be a “progressive” in his campaign materials and on his website, but his sales tax expansion proposal to “services” would be a highly regressive move. The delegate has never voted to reform or halt the state’s automatic gas tax rate hike, which occurs July 1st, 2024 (yet again). This is a wholly regressive tax that harms lower-income Marylanders the most. Maryland is in the top 10 of all states when it comes to the state gas tax assessed per gallon of gasoline fuel.
What’s next? Who really knows? There is seemingly nothing off-limits to tax for Mr. Moon, who seems to think taxing a person’s funeral service is A-OK, and no drug promoting policy he won’t co-sponsor. Where many see San Francisco, California as a cautionary tale, delegate Moon sees utopia. Empty storefronts, dereliction, litter and rampant public drug use or intoxication seem to be his idea of public policy success.
