Former state comptroller John Sharp awaits a ruling in a lawsuit accusing him of playing politics with an organization's tax status. A ruling in the case involving the Ethical Society of Austin has been pending before state District Judge Paul Davis of Austin 11 months since the case was tried. The society is a small group that does not require its members to believe in a supreme being. It's been trying to gain tax-exempt status as a religious organization. It accuses Sharp of overstepping his authority in June 1997 when he overruled a staff decision granting the group a religious exemption. Sharp says he had to uphold a state law he says was intended to prevent people from skirting taxes by cloaking themselves in religious trappings. The Democrat is now running for lieutenant governor.