Wes Moore’s Vanishing Act: Taxes Go Up, Leadership Goes Down by Clayton Mitchell

In the shadowed corridors of Annapolis, where budget discussions echo like the whispers of palace intrigue, Governor Wes Moore remains conspicuously absent. While legislative leaders, hands wringing and brows furrowed, haggle over Maryland’s spiraling fiscal woes, the governor has chosen to divert his gaze to the distant horizons of national prominence. It is a curious thing: when Marylanders require leadership most, their governor appears more interested in cementing a political brand than in confronting the financial crisis unfolding under his watch.

Gary Collins, of WBFF FOX 45, has aptly chronicled Moore’s national escapades—whether it be the gilded Gridiron Dinner in Washington or a leisurely Sunday appearance on “Face the Nation.” These engagements may flatter his ambitions, but they do little to assuage the anxieties of Marylanders who see their tax burden poised for yet another precipitous climb. 

Collins has been particularly diligent in exposing the administration’s reluctance to engage with local media on pressing financial issues, highlighting Moore’s preference for national exposure over state-level accountability. And climb it will, regardless of the semantic pirouettes performed by legislative leaders. Whether labeled a “business-to-business tax” or a “sales tax on some services,” Marylanders will soon feel the cold hand of government extracting more from their pockets.

Senate President Bill Ferguson assures us that we are “very, very close” to a budget framework. But to what end? The process is taking longer than usual, deadlines have come and gone, and the only certainty is that the taxpayers will foot the bill for the incompetence of single-party rule. 

The deficit has metastasized from a surplus of $5 billion to a shortfall of $3.3 billion—an astonishing reversal in just a short period of time. The Senate Minority Leader, Steve Hershey, sees this predicament with clarity: Maryland’s overreliance on federal largesse has left it vulnerable to the slightest tremors in Washington. The pattern is undeniable: crisis, federal bailouts, and an utter refusal to heed the warnings of fiscal reality.

Yet Governor Moore, despite his repeated assertions that he is “working very closely” with lawmakers, has done little to clarify his stance on the tax proposals currently under discussion. As Collins reported, Moore has declared that a broad business-to-business tax is off the table, but only in the sense that it must be accompanied by a broader tax on consumers and individual taxpayers. This is the governing equivalent of promising to hit the taxpayer with a left hook rather than a right. 

One imagines the Maryland Chamber of Commerce nodding along grimly, understanding that the distinction is largely academic. As Mary D. Kane, President of the Chamber, succinctly put it, “It’s the same problem in different packaging.”

Senator Hershey’s analysis is equally unflinching: Maryland cannot tax its way out of this deficit. Yet that is precisely what legislative leaders are attempting, while Governor Moore offers no resistance. Instead, he indulges in rhetorical hedging, allowing the legislature to move forward with tax increases while preserving a fig leaf of plausible deniability. The message is clear: he may not lead the charge, but he certainly won’t stand in the way.

Senator Justin Ready has articulated the frustration many Marylanders feel, noting that Moore seems more interested in “decisions he’s not making” than those he is. Del. Mark Fisher, never one to mince words, went so far as to accuse Moore of “ignoring Maryland” in favor of his national ambitions. Collins’ reporting underscores this sentiment, documenting Moore’s repeated absences from key budget discussions and his conspicuous silence on looming tax hikes. The governor’s office, when pressed, offered a response so perfunctory as to be insulting—boasting of in-state visits that do nothing to address the gaping chasm in the state’s budget.

It is telling that even as Moore decries the economic consequences of Trump’s tariff policies, his own administration is unable to substantiate the claim that Maryland’s port is suffering. On the contrary, recent data indicates an increase in car and container traffic. It is a curious thing, this compulsion to deflect blame to Washington, even when the facts are uncooperative. But in the absence of decisive leadership, misdirection becomes the next best strategy.

Tyrone Keys, a financial services and real estate expert, has cut through the smokescreen with admirable concision: “We can’t afford anymore.” And that, ultimately, is the reality that eludes Moore and his legislative allies. Marylanders are not an inexhaustible source of revenue. They cannot perpetually absorb the cost of government mismanagement. And they are right to ask: where is our governor?

If Moore harbors aspirations for higher office, he might consider that competent governance is the surest path to political viability. As things stand, his tenure is becoming an exercise in abdication—one where fiscal calamity looms, tax burdens rise, and Maryland’s governor is nowhere to be found.