CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — Controller Ron Knecht says he's ending an effort to repeal Nevada's new commerce tax because it would be too difficult to gather the signatures needed to get the measure on the ballot.

The move announced to supporters Wednesday comes after the Nevada Supreme Court ruled earlier this month that the petition language needed to be rewritten.

The ruling invalidated the more than 20,000 signatures tax opponents had gathered, and they needed to start over to gather more than 55,000 signatures by June 21 to put it on the ballot.

Knecht said justices had "manufactured a bogus excuse" to hamper the referendum.

The tax on businesses was approved last year by the Republican-controlled Legislature. Opponents say it was a betrayal after voters roundly defeated a margins tax on the 2014 ballot.