Carolina de Onís is the new general counsel for the Teacher Retirement System of Texas. She’s a former regulator with 15 years of Wall Street experience; according to the agency.

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is sending these five senators into the conference committee on the budget: Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands; Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, D-McAllen; Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock; Jane Nelson R-Flower Mound; and John Whitmire, D-Houston.

Speaker Joe Straus appointed former U.S. Rep. Pete Geren, D-Fort Worth, to the oversight committee of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas. Geren is president of the Sid Richardson Foundation and served for eight years at the U.S. Department of Defense. 

Gov. Rick Perry appointed

• William Lucas of Center to the Finance Commission of Texas. Lucas is president and COO of Shelby Savings Bank.

• Manuel “Manny” Cavazos IV of Austin to chair the Credit Union Commission and named three others to that board, including Allyson “Missy” Morrow of San Benito, Barbara “Kay” Stewart of Daingerfield, and Vik Vad of Austin. Cavazos is a rancher, attorney and CPA. Morrow is CEO of the Harlingen Area Teachers’ Credit Union. Stewart is president and CEO of the North East Texas Credit Union. Vad is a real estate broker and president of Om Capital Management.

Deaths: Dr. Joe Thigpen of Haskell, father of Texas First Lady Anita Perry. He was 92.

Bob Perry, Houston homebuilder and a conservative mega-donor on both the state and federal levels for more than three decades. He was 80.