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Here are the headlines you Need2Know for Tuesday, January 11, 2022:

VOTING RIGHTS

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are due in Atlanta today to push federal voting rights legislation. The president is expected to call for a carve-out to the filibuster to pass federal legislation, but Georgia voting and civil rights leaders say they’re tired of hearing another speech without any action, so many of them are skipping the event. AXIOS

GEORGIA WINS!

Georgia’s 41-year wait is finally over. The Bulldogs beat the Alabama Crimson Tide 33-18 in last night’s College Football Playoff Championship. After a fumble in the game’s first quarter, Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett landed two touchdown passes in the final moments of the game, leading the team to its first national football title since 1980. Georgia finished the 2021 season with a 14-1 record, the most wins in school history. ESPN
 

Stetson Bennett sounds like a character from a soap opera. 

COVID TESTS COVERED

Beginning Saturday, private health insurers will have to cover the cost of up to eight COVID tests per month for plan participants. Under the policy, announced by the White House yesterday, people can either purchase home testing kits for free under their insurance or submit reimbursement claims. PCR and rapid tests ordered by a health provider will continue to be fully covered by insurance with zero limit. AP
 

Now if we could only find them. 

FED NOMINEE HEARING

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will face a Senate committee today as they consider his nomination to remain at the helm of the central bank. The same committee will consider Fed Governor Lael Brainard for a promotion to vice chair on Thursday. Policy-watchers will be keeping an eye out for any new details that could emerge on the Fed’s plans to ease inflation or address climate change and racial inequality. REUTERS

HEALTH CARE FOR UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS

Governor Gavin Newsom's new budget proposal includes health insurance for all undocumented immigrants not currently covered by other plans. The measure would cost $2.2. billion a year and additional proposed tax cuts would cut the state's coffers by another $6.5 billion, but the money appears to be there. The state is expecting a $45.7 billion surplus thanks to an increase in tax collections during the pandemic. Newsom’s proposal would begin January 2024 and would cover close to 700,0000 additional people. AP

PATIENT RECEIVES PIG HEART

A man with life-threatening heart disease now has a new heart – from a gene-edited pig. The surgery marks the first time a genetically-modified pig has been used as an organ donor and could entirely change the outlook for future transplants. In the nine-hour surgery, surgeons used the heart of a one-year-old, 240-pound pig that had been bred specifically for the transplant. Whether the heart will reject its new host or not is still unknown, but reports say it’s currently doing just fine. NY TIMES

IRS: GOOD LUCK THIS YEAR

Get ready for a turbulent tax season. Taxpayers can start filing their taxes January 24, but the U.S. Treasury is warning that the IRS is already dealing with massive backlogs from the last two filing seasons. For context: while the tax collector normally has around 1 million pieces of unopened mail when a new filing season begins, it was staring down six million unprocessed individual returns a few weeks ago. POLITICO
 

When is tax season not turbulent? 

UKRAINE TALKS CONTINUE

Tense diplomatic talks between the U.S. and Russia on Monday don't appear to have moved the needle much on the future of Ukraine. As Russian troops amassed on the border, and the Biden administration weighs sanctions and trade restrictions, the first round of negotiations in Geneva yielded little progress on key issues, though both sides noted that the talks were just getting started. Wendy Sherman, the lead American diplomat, said Russia's demand for NATO and the U.S. to halt their military assistance to eastern countries such as Ukraine is a non-starter. NY TIMES
 

Diplomatic talks didn’t work? Shocking. 

GTA MEETS FARMVILLE

Take-Two Interactive, maker of Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption, has acquired Zynga, maker of FarmVille and Words With Friends, in one of the biggest mergers between video game companies ever. The $12.7 billion deal brings together two different sides of the industry, with Zynga's focus on mobile gaming and Take-Two's speciality in big-budget game development. The combination is expected to create some interesting crossover opportunities. CHEDDAR

ENTERTAINMENT

‘GREY’S' RENEWED: ABC has renewed Shonda Rhimes's widely popular drama for Season 19, with leading star Ellen Pompeo closing a massive one-year deal and snagging a new executive producer role. DEADLINE
 

After 19 seasons, “greys” describes their hair. 

‘FRESH PRINCE' RETURNS: Peacock released its first trailer for the 'Fresh Prince of Bel-Air' reboot. The 90’s sitcom that cemented Will Smith's place among Hollywood royalty appears to be taking a more dramatic turn this time around. The first three episodes will hit the streaming service on Super Bowl Sunday. THR

LEFTOVERS: THE LEANING TOWER OF…. SF?

No need to go to Europe to see an unsettled building. Millennium Tower, a luxury residential skyscraper in San Francisco, is tilting three inches per year, according to an engineer who has worked on the tower. The 58-story skyscraper is already sinking into the ground and leaning two feet off-center as we speak, with engineers scrambling to stabilize it. Public records from 2016 show the building was only supposed to lean a couple of inches – at most – by 2028. NBC

Need2Know Podcast Note: The Need2Know podcast is taking a break for now. We're looking forward to bringing you more context and analysis on the big stories of the day in a few weeks. In the meantime, check out our archive on Apple or Spotify, or watch on YouTube, and send us your feedback!

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