And, make sure to check out Ryan and Neva next Wednesday for January’s On Tap at Picasso’s Cafe in the Paseo District in Oklahoma City

The constitutional question passed by nearly 60% of voters removes the governor from the parole process for nonviolent offenders.

The special meeting of the Pardon and Parole Board Monday only lasted about an hour and a half to iron out details of the new procedure.

Chairman Marc Dreyer says despite recent criticism from prosecutors nothing will change the diligence by which the board reviews parole candidates.

“There have been some that have said the board’s being turned loose to carte blanche turn anyone loose that they want to, and that just simply isn’t true.”

Dreyer says the new procedures will go into effect immediately for the January hearings next week as well as about 150 nonviolent offenders from December’s meeting.

Governor Fallin will still have a final say in parole cases for people convicted of 63 types of violent crimes.

Democrats who also took their oath have to contend with very few members left.

Supreme Court Justice Steven Taylor administers the oath of office for 101 Representatives and 23 Senators in both chambers.

Senate President Pro Tem Brian Bingman says he’s glad to have four more seats added to the GOP majority.

“Seats that’s historic and certainly excited about that. 20 years ago I think there were 11 republicans in the senate and today its 36.”

On the other side of the aisle, Minority Leader Sean Burrage says despite only having 12 Democrats his party will still push issues critical to Oklahoma.

“We want to increase funding to public education. We’ve got this health care exchange issue we must deal with that we’ve been ignoring for two and a half years now. But other than that yeah 12 members, but I predict there will be times when our votes are needed to pass some important legislation.”

The recent elections also saw Republican gains in the House which now has a 72 to 29 Majority over Democrats.

Republicans met for more than three hours to select their leaders including Speaker-Elect T.W. Shannon of Lawton who was approved by unanimous consent.

Shannon says the 72 members cramped into a small committee room on the fourth floor shows the need for repairs at the capitol.

“We’ve got to be focused on the maintenance issues first obviously but yeah it’s pretty cramped in there but it’s exciting. That makes it even more rewarding the work that these candidates have done to get where they are and work for the people of Oklahoma.”

Enid Republican Mike Jackson was voted in as the Speaker Pro Tem.

Shannon will take the position as Speaker officially on organizational day in January.

Supreme Court Justices heard arguments from both sides Thursday as to the constitutionality of using a $25 million bond raise the level of the Zink Dam.

Senator Patrick Anderson of Enid brought the challenge saying the bond passed in 2009 was supposed to be for a series of low level dams along the Arkansas River.

“This wasn’t the original plan that the legislature proposed and it doesn’t fit, it’s like trying to put a square peg in a round hole, it doesn’t fit under that legislation to do what the city of Tulsa is asking to be done at this point.”

The State argues that this is constitutional because it does fit into the original legislative intent.

Sen. Anderson is asking the court to stop the bond from going through and send it back to the legislature to rework the language to make it constitutional.

After the dust cleared on election night, State Senate Republicans held a 36 to 12 advantage over Democrats, a four seat gain.

Senate President Pro Tem Brian Bingman says despite the huge majority he still plans to work closely with Democratic Leader Sean Burrage.

“With the new numbers certainly comes responsibility. I look forward to sitting down with Senator Burrage. We’ve got 48 members in the senate, and everybody’s got good ideas.”

Bingman says he plans to meet with the rest of his caucus in the next few weeks to put together an agenda for the next legislative session.

He credits Republican gains with the conservative pro-growth, pro-business message which rings true to the Oklahoma voter.

Issues like affirmative action and intangible property taxes certainly can be confusing and while some groups are working to persuade voters one way or the other finding unbiased information isn’t easy.

Below we have a quick glance at the state questions with links to the original stories from KOSU and State Impact.

SQ 762 would remove the Governor from the parole process.

SQ758 would cap the increase on property taxes to 3% rather than the current 5%.

SQ765 would end the commission which oversees the Department of Human Services.

SQ759 would eliminate affirmative action for the State of Oklahoma.

The State Impact story on affirmative action can be found here.

SQ764 allows the Oklahoma Water Resources Board to issue $300 million in bonds for the future of water in the state.

And, SQ766 would eliminate taxes on intangible property.

Remember the General Election is November 6^th.

The State Election Board is warning people to check to make sure their polling place hasn’t been changed because of redistricting.

You can find out the location of your polling place through the state election board website or by calling your local county election board.