Day Number One of the 60 day legislative session is right now. Here are the takeaways from NM Politics with Joe Monahan, the state's longest-running political website.

--Just call it the "Singleton Session" because years from now that's the label it will sport. The question is how long a shadow will District Court Judge Sarah Singleton's landmark education ruling made last year cast on future generations. Will it be a quirk, it's consequences evaded, or will it be an historic turning point?

--Singleton's ruling that NM is violating its Constitution by not providing a proper education for its at-risk students--mostly Hispanic, Native American and low income--has already had a dramatic impact on the state and the legislative session, with the  budgets presented by both Gov. Lujan Grisham and the Legislative Finance Committee committed to addressing the judge's findings.

--Under both budgets spending on at-risk students would rise by $113 million. The LFC recommends $90 million go toward extending the school year by five weeks at many elementary schools,

--That's a start but Singleton made clear in her ruling that universal full-day Pre K is one ultimate goal which the court ruled--after exhaustive testimony--is proven to have a positive impact on how kids perform by the third grade.

--Contrary to some mainstream media chatter, the ruling is very specific about what needs to be done for the state's thousands of at-risk children. We could not find any ambiguity (e.g. universal Pre-K and upgrade Pre K teaching standards; Pre K-3 Plus for more instruction time; expanded Summer School; smaller class sizes) Again, the question the judge left to the Legislature is the cost of compliance--not what constitutes compliance. Basically, she gave them a blueprint and said "find the money" to obey the law.

Judge Singleton

--Singleton, 69, is now retired. She was first appointed to the bench by Governor Richardson in 2009. She could not have asked for a better career capper than to be the judge in the case that challenged the state's educational underpinnings. She proved herself more than up for the challenge. The ruling reads like a tutorial on a hundred years of state education policy, with testimony from a myriad of experts. Whatever she's doing in retirement, she earned it.

--MLG and the LFC are on board, but most Republicans are hold-outs and want the  ruling appealed, something MLG is not going to do. Sandoval County GOP Rep. Jason Harper claims the $1.1 billion surplus projection is an illusion and that the Legislature will end up cutting back the increase in education funding it is expected to approve at the session

--But if Harper and the R's have it wrong they are flat out of the game. They could have a seat at the table now to determine the direction of some of that new education spending. But their bet is on failure. Perhaps not a bad bet given past results, but it sidelines them in the debate over spending.

--Again, the long-term cost of the ruling is ambiguous, but what NM needs is not. Every legislator owes it to themselves (and their constituents) to spend time scrolling through the 600 page ruling. It's an eye opener.

WIRTH PACIFIES SMITH

--On the early childhood front, our spotters at a recent public meeting featuring Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth report he still has no stomach for taking on powerful Senate Finance Committee chairman and fellow Democrat John Arthur Smith.

Finance has repeatedly stopped the constitutional amendment to tap a portion of the state's $18 billion Land Grant Permanent School Fund and devote it to very early childhood education (ages 0-5). But Wirth told the audience he will not bypass the committee and try to bring the amendment to the floor without Smith's blessing.

--MLG is publicly all in on the amendment which if passed by the Legislature would be presented to voters in November 2020. She is the one who is going to have to exert political muscle, if she is to score the win. Wirth remains flaccid when it comes to the Deming Senator.

--Pressure will also be put on House Speaker Egolf who will rush the amendment through the House and claim victory. But a true movida would be stalling consideration of Senate bills in the House until Senate Finance agreed to give the early childhood amendment a hearing and a vote. That's probably what former House Speaker Ben Lujan would do, as he did on a number of occasions.

OTHER STUFF

Some say they see signs that a marijuana legalization bill could make it through the Legislature. We don't. We actually see a dampening of enthusiasm for legal weed, evidenced by this skeptical article from of all places--the liberal New Yorker magazine. The article titled, "Is Marijuana as Safe as We Think?" is a wake-up call for the legal marijuana crowd.

SHE'S THE NEWEST

Senator Sedillo-Lopez

The name of the newest member of the Legislature will ring a bell for many New Mexicans. She is attorney Antoinette Sedillo Lopez who ran a high profile campaign for the Dem nomination for the ABQ congressional seat last year but was defeated by Deb Haaland.

Sedillo Lopez, 61, a onetime UNM law professor and longtime activist, was the 5-0 pick of the BernCo Commission Monday to fill the ABQ SE Heights Senate seat of liberal icon Cisco McSorley. The longtime 68 year old lawmaker resigned the seat to take a job as the state's parole director.