Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst appointed three new Senate committee chairmen:

•    State Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, was named chairman of the Health and Human Services Committee. He succeeds Jane Nelson, who was chosen to lead the Finance Committee.

•    State Sen. Craig Estes, R-Wichita Falls, was named chairman of the State Affairs Committee. He continues as chairman of the Agriculture, Rural Affairs and Homeland Security Committee.

•    State Sen. Kevin Eltife, R-Tyler, was named chairman of the Business & Commerce Committee. He continues as chairman of the Senate Administration Committee.

House Speaker Joe Straus appointed five members to a new legislative committee set up to review the Texas Lottery and Lottery Commission. Those members are: John Kuempel, R-Seguin (co-chairman); Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake; Garnet Coleman, D-Houston; Rick Miller, R-Sugar Land; and Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston.

Straus named 11 members to a newly created select committee that will focus on health care education and training. They are: Susan King, R-Abilene (chair); Cecil Bell, Jr., R-Magnolia; Travis Clardy, R-Nacogdoches; Garnet Coleman, D-Houston; Myra Crownover, R-Denton; Bobby Guerra, D-McAllen; Donna Howard, D-Austin; Joe Moody, D-El Paso; Chris Paddie, R-Marshall; John Raney, R-Bryan; and Justin Rodriguez, D-San Antonio.

Taylor Coffey joined the Texas Hospital Association as the group's vice president for federal affairs. She comes from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission where she was a federal affairs liaison.

Deaths: Phil Cates, a Democratic state representative who represented Shamrock from 1971 to 1979. After his legislative career, he lobbied for Tenneco and the Texas Association of Business. Most recently, he opened and ran his own lobby firm, Texas Stakeholders. He was 67.

Disclosure: The Texas Hospital Association and the Texas Association of Business are corporate sponsors of The Texas Tribune. A complete list of Texas Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed here.