The governor's budget recommendation was to spend $120 million on North Dakota's roads and bridges. The federal stimulus package for state road works came in at $170 million.

What's a lawmaker to do?

Trim the state's share back to $43 million, which added to the stimulus package comes to $213 million for roads and bridges. Or keep the governor's recommendation and add the stimulus funds for a grand total of $290 million.

And let's not forget there might be some federal disaster funds flowing into North Dakota in response to record flooding.

North Dakota could be awash in road-and-bridge money.

The hardest part of answering the question is knowing and understanding the need. It's agreed township and county roads were hit brutally hard. Heavy snowfall, during what the Morton County road crew calls "The Eternal Winter," meant plowing roads repeatedly. And with each pass of the blade, more gravel was skimmed off the road and thrown in the ditch. Many gravel roads in the state will need to be regraveled. And then came the melt with water crossing roads in hundreds of locations, eating away at road surfaces, shoulders and ditches.

And it has not been just gravel roads in trouble. A number of the state's water-logged highways have been closed by water.

The cost of fixing all of that could be high, and significant portions of it will not qualify for disaster funds.

How much is enough money to make things right?

It's going to be hard to tell before mid-summer, yet the Legislature wants to finish its work by the end of April.

County and township officials, unsurprisingly, come down on the side of the biggest number, and they are bringing pressure to bear on legislators. Plus, lawmakers wanting to trim the state share would like to carry over a healthy balance for the next Legislature.

Taxpayers, of course, would prefer not to spend money just to spend money, whether that money comes from the state or the federal government. And taxpayers would be right.

Because there are so many unknown factors, the Legislature should be prepared to spend the full amount - $120 million of state funds and $170 million in stimulus funds. There should be a basic allotment for counties based on miles of road, and then a pool of state funds that could only be released after successful project reviews based on reasonable criteria. If the need isn't there and the criteria unmet, the balance of funding would be carried over to the next budget cycle.

Lawmakers, however, should be prepared to see it all used. There's no doubt that the recent flooding severely damaged roads and bridges throughout much of the state. There's also a sense that bringing rural roads up to snuff would take whatever money might be available, whatever the amount and from whomever wants to give it.

Therefore, a process is necessary to review the projects and provide a certain level of confidence for the taxpayer that the funds will be well spent.

What's a lawmaker to do?

Make sure North Dakotans can move freely and safely on a road system that's in good repair, and do it in a financial sound manner.