Let there be no doubt that tempers are flaring in Carson City today after Gov. Jim Gibbons reversed himself and said he won’t sign that room tax bill after all, instead letting it become law without his signature. (The governor had repeatedly said — even in the face of criticism from the right — that he’d sign the measure.)

State Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford excoriated the governor in a statement released moments ago, calling the governor a coward. Here’s the harsh language (university regents — cover your eyes and ears!):

Once again, the governor has chosen to abdicate his responsibility to lead Nevada. After including the voter approved Room Tax Initiative in his budget, he has taken the easy way out by choosing to take no stance on the initiative.  It is without a doubt that we are not in normal times. Jobs are disappearing and entire industries are suffering. We are at a crossroads. We must face the future with courage and competence, not with the cowardice the governor has demonstrated today.”

It is clear that he lacks any vision for what Nevada should be now and in 20 years and that the people of Nevada cannot trust what he says or does. Legislative leaders will have to do the hard work to balance the budget responsibly.  The hard work started today and will continue until our work is done on behalf of the people of Nevada.

Impolitic? Perhaps. But we doubt a person could find more than a handful of people in the entire state who disagree with Horsford’s assessment. It is said in Carson City that all you really have is your word, and now lawmakers have been given a fairly clear lesson — as if another was needed — that Gibbons cannot be taken at his.

The session just got a whole lot more contentious. Good thing the governor is irrelevant, mostly by his own doing, huh?