Save it? Refund it though tax cuts? Or spend it?

Though they won majorities in more than half the statehouses on principled platforms of making government smaller, some Republicans now are feeling tremendous pressure to spend newfound money on roads, buildings and schools that had been neglected or cut during the recession-induced downturn of recent years.

"Everybody wants that money," said North Dakota Senate Majority Leader Rich Wardner, where an oil industry boom has fueled one of the largest per capita budget surpluses in the nation.

Only a few states still face budget difficulties several years after the Great Recession forced widespread cuts to public education and social services, according to a new report by the National Conference of State Legislatures. To the contrary, a growing number anticipate that they will finish the 2013 fiscal year with surpluses, some totaling hundreds of millions of dollars.

The Senate version of the bill, to be considered by the Senate Agriculture Committee on Tuesday, makes concessions to Southern rice and peanut farmers, thanks to a new top Republican on the committee, Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran. Because those Southern-grown crops rely on subsidies called direct payments that are being eliminated, the bill would make it easier for those farmers to receive alternate subsidies if prices dip.

The House bill, authored by Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Okla., and being considered by the House Agriculture Committee on Wednesday, is even more favorable to Southern farms, which are among the nation's biggest.

Each bill would eliminate $5 billion in annual direct payments that aren't tied to production or crop prices and would consolidate other programs. At the same time, the bills would create new programs with some of that money and raise the subsidies for some crops while business is booming in the agricultural sector.