Judge will rule Thursday on Eyman tax measure

SEATTLE — A judge says he intends to rule Thursday on the legality of Tim Eyman’s latest anti-tax measure.

Voters in November approved Initiative 1366, which would cut the state sales tax by a penny unless the Legislature puts a tax-limiting constitutional amendment on the fall ballot.

Opponents sued, saying the initiative violates the rule that initiatives be limited to a single subject. Attorney Paul Lawrence told King County Superior Court Judge William Downing during arguments Tuesday that the sales tax reduction would cut $1.4 billion from the state’s budget — and said that’s akin to holding a gun to the Legislature’s head.

A lawyer for the state responded that the measure is constitutional.