Gov. Butch Otter and Republican legislative leaders compromised Friday on the Capitol expansion, cutting the size of planned underground wings in half.

For Otter, who disliked the wings and halted construction two weeks ago, the deal sends a message that he opposes government growth, a member of his Cabinet said. For legislators, who approved the wings last year to accommodate growth, the compromise averted a conflict between the two branches of government, though it left few people really happy.

Both sides hope the compromise will save money, though they don't know how much it will save. Digging and building one level of hearing rooms instead of two will still require much of the same work.

The compromise will go before the Capitol Commission on Tuesday. It also needs legislative approval.

Under the deal:

• The wings planned for the east and west sides of the Capitol will shrink by about 50,000 square feet, from two stories to one.

• The wings will be dedicated primarily to hearing rooms for legislative committees.

• Any money saved will be put toward renovation of the old Ada County Courthouse and Borah Post Office, both owned by the state and close to the Capitol, for office space.• The first floor of the Capitol will be turned from executive to legislative control, meaning all constitutional officers now housed there except the treasurer will move elsewhere, likely to the post office or courthouse.

Lawmakers want more space because hearing rooms are frequently overcrowded. As Idaho has grown, so has attendance at committee hearings.

Senate Assistant Majority Leader Joe Stegner told the Idaho Statesman he was confident the compromise would still meet the Legislature's space needs for the next 50 or 100 years. "It certainly gives us enough area to be comfortable with," said Stegner, R-Lewiston.

The agreement was reached behind closed doors. Otter declined to comment. He wants the agreement to be considered "face to face and not in the press," a spokesman said.

The cost of the plan is not yet known, and an exact timeline has not been worked out, said Department of Administration Director Keith Johnson, whose agency is overseeing the renovation. Designers will need to redraw the plans before work can begin again, but Johnson said he is confident work will be done in time for the Legislature to move back in for the 2010 session, as originally planned.

An official order to resume work will be issued Monday, and the compromise plan will be presented to the Capitol Commission on Tuesday, Johnson said. Designers will need to bring updated plans to the commission.

Johnson said the compromise plan allowed Otter to send a message. "The governor's concern was that the plan as previously stated created an opportunity to grow government, which Gov. Otter has consistently been opposed to," Johnson said. "He did not want to be the governor who opened up a new phase of growth in state government."

Legislative leaders said they were confident that the agreement was final and that all sides would stick to it.

"He (Otter) was seeing it was going to cost as much to fight it as it was to compromise," House Speaker Lawerence Denney, R-Midvale, told the Statesman. "I don't think anybody is totally happy with it."

But Senate Minority Leader Clint Stennett, D-Ketchum, said he doesn't understand the point of going to all the trouble of digging and building infrastructure without doing both levels as planned. "It seems like we did a lot of huffing and puffing for not a lot of change," Stennett said.

Otter and the GOP leaders have been in negotiations since Jan. 12, when Otter ordered contractors to stop work.

Otter openly opposed the $43 million wings portion of the $123 million Statehouse renovation during his campaign for governor last year, but lawmakers weren't sure if he would act on his concerns.

The Legislature passed the Statehouse renovation last session after years of debate.

House Assistant Majority Leader Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, said the price per square foot of the wings will go up.

Getting support from the nine-member Capitol Commission won't likely be an issue, leaders said.

"The governor has an amazing amount of clout on that commission," Bedke said. "He appoints four members and the fifth is his new head of Administration."

Indeed, the commission chairman, Major Gen. Jack Kane, former leader of the Idaho National Guard, told The Associated Press he could likely live with the compromise. "What they come up with, we will support," Kane said.

To offer story ideas or comments, contact reporter Shawna Gamache at sgamache@idahostatesman.com or 377-6416.