newsom lauds administration actions on Silicon Valley Bank

By RIA ROEBUCK JOSEPH THE CENTER SQUARE CONTRIBUTOR

(The Center Square) — California

Gov. Gavin Newsom lauded the Biden administration for its handling of the failure of Silicon Valley Bank as regulators work to ensure the bank’s deposits.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. took control of the bank on Friday. Gov. Newsom said he had been working behind the scenes for the past two days to stabilize the situation.

Bank officials announced Wednesday they were attempting to raise $2 billion. The announcement led to the withdrawal of funds by venture capital firms, which led to the bank’s failure.

The FDIC reopened the bank on Monday as the Deposit Insurance National Bank of Santa Clara. SVB had 17 branches in California and Massachusetts, according to the FDIC.

“The Biden administration has acted swiftly and decisively to protect the American economy and strengthen public confidence in our banking system,” Gov. Newsom said in a statement. “Their actions this weekend have calmed nerves and had profoundly positive impacts on California.”

President Biden said Monday that the bank’s failure would not affect taxpayers.

“No losses will be, and I want, this is an important point, no losses will be borne by the taxpayers,” President Biden said. “Let me repeat that: No losses will be borne by the taxpayers. Instead, the money will come from the fees that banks pay into the Deposit Insurance Fund.”

SVB had $209 billion in total assets and about $175.4 billion in total deposits on Dec. 31, 2022, according to a news release from the FDIC.

The FDIC said the amount of SVB deposits over the $250,000 insurance limit is unknown.

Clouds hover last weekend above Summerland. Today’s storm is expected to last through Wednesday morning.

By DAVE MASON NEWS-PRESS MANAGING EDITOR

Here it comes again: rain and plenty of it.

The National Weather Service said a lot of rain will fall today across Santa Barbara County and throughout Southern California. The storm is expected to last into Wednesday morning.

“This is another very warm atmospheric river storm pulling moisture from thousands of miles across the Pacific Ocean,” the weather service said.

Between 2 to 5 inches of rain is expected along the coast and in the valleys. There could be 4 to 8 inches at higher elevations, according to the weather service.

The highest amount of rain will likely fall in southern Santa Barbara County, the weather service said.

A flood watch took effect at 7 this morning in the county and is expected to last until 5 a.m. Wednesday. The heavy rainfall could mean flooding of streams, creeks, rivers and roads.

In addition, gusty winds are predicted.

The storm led to school closures today throughout the Santa Barbara Unified School District.

“Up to an inch of rain will fall between 12 p.m. and 6 p.m.,” the school district noted in a news release.

“Forecasters are comparing this to the storm on Jan. 9 of this year that forced our last shutdown.”

Santa Barbara City College reported that all of its campuses would be closed today.

And in Montecito, Cold Spring School, Montecito Union School and Our Lady of Mount Carmel School are closed today because of the storm.

Westmont College in Montecito is on spring break.

Meanwhile, the Santa Barbara City