Its not just govt agncy mergers that fail. Business merger do not always survive and many of the have been unwound.

Time Warner and AOL
Snapple and Quaker Oats
All the subsidiaries that ford and GM owned in part or whole.

And plenty of companies that are taken private by private equity firms end up selling them over and over. If you cannot have success combining two seattle newspapers, then you know its not easy.

I think that some folks putting forth testimony about their own reductions in wages and benefits is going to put the spotlight on the state agencies.

Gregoire announce a 3% cut on the union contracts and thats not even close to what the private sector has experience. Watch them try and give themselves raises in 2012.