In a glum assessment of the budget picture, Spokane County CEO Marshall Farnell said last week: “I don’t know how you do those things that make sense, that save money in the future.”

He was referring, in part, to a new pretrial services initiative designed to divert criminals from the usual path of repeat offenses, which, in turn, would save the county money in the long run. But it’s a universal complaint that long-term projects are tough to defend in our short-term world. Politicians quickly face re-election and thus want immediate successes.

So what happens to programs where outcomes are determined long past the point where the initial proponents can claim credit? Well, in tough times, they’re zapped or put on hold.

For a current example, check out the 2009-11 Washington state budget recommendations produced by the Office of Financial Management (ofm.wa.gov). Under its priorities of government score card, several early learning initiatives rate “low” or “don’t buy.” Now, the cost-benefit analyses for instituting high quality pre-kindergarten classes show that for every dollar spent, the state would save anywhere from $3 to $9. The estimates themselves took a long time to calculate, because they were products of longitudinal studies that followed children from age 3 or 4 to adulthood. Research found that kids in top-notch pre-K programs were more apt to get a college degree, earn a decent wage, pay taxes, raise educated children and stay out of the criminal justice system. Money spent there would mean much less money spent elsewhere.

But not many politicians are willing to wait 10 to 20 years or risk being forgotten as trailblazing leaders. So the focus returns to the short term. And sure enough, under OFM’s budget recommendations for public safety, the top two items are for the Department of Corrections. In fact, several items related to corrections, juvenile detention and civil commitments are rated “high.”

It will take strong, selfless leadership to remove the handcuffs from “those things that make sense, that save money in the future.”

It’s business. Perhaps there is a creative way to rescue early learning from an early grave. Shift it over to the budgets for corrections or economic development.

When I attended a seminar on early learning at Columbia University a while back, the most inspiring speaker was not an educator or politician. It was a New York City developer and philanthropist named Daniel Rose. He delivered a rousing, high-decibel lecture on how spending on early learning was simply a smart business decision. He noted the return on such an investment would be the envy of Wall Street.

“It pays!” he thundered. “Put that in your newspapers!”