Florida SB 1770: Tax-filing Extensions

Bill Text

1770 
Florida Gulf Coast University Day 
2026-01-20T08:19:16Z 
Recognizing the historic origins, public mission, academic excellence, and statewide contributions of Florida Gulf Coast University and designating January 27, 2026, as “Florida Gulf Coast University Day” in Florida, etc. 
Original Filed Version 
2026 
S 
SR 
Resolution 
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 Florida Senate - 2026 (NP) SR 1770 

 By Senator Passidomo 

 28-01848-26 20261770__ 
 1 Senate Resolution 
 2 A resolution recognizing the historic origins, public 
 3 mission, academic excellence, and statewide 
 4 contributions of Florida Gulf Coast University and 
 5 designating January 27, 2026, as “Florida Gulf Coast 
 6 University Day” in Florida. 
 7 
 8 WHEREAS, Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) has matured 
 9 into a consequential and trusted institution of higher learning 
 10 whose devotion to intellectual pursuits, civic engagement, 
 11 environmental stewardship, and regional vitality has 
 12 strengthened the culture and economy of Southwest Florida, 
 13 thereby affirming the value of purposeful investment in 
 14 education and the university’s rightful place in the civic and 
 15 academic life of this state, and 
 16 WHEREAS, in May 1991, then-Governor Lawton Chiles, acting 
 17 with foresight and a deliberate commitment to expanding 
 18 educational opportunities in this state, signed into law the 
 19 creation of Florida’s tenth public university in order to 
 20 provide access to higher education and support workforce 
 21 development in the rapidly growing but previously underserved 
 22 region of Southwest Florida, and 
 23 WHEREAS, FGCU opened its doors to 2,584 students on August 
 24 25, 1997, and held its first commencement in May 1998 with 81 
 25 graduates, marking the beginning of its enduring role as a 
 26 center of academic promise and public purpose, and 
 27 WHEREAS, through the years, FGCU has been shaped and 
 28 strengthened by the leadership of five distinguished presidents: 
 29 Dr. Roy E. McTarnaghan, Dr. William C. Merwin, Dr. Wilson G. 
 30 Bradshaw, Dr. Michael V. Martin, and Dr. Aysegul Timur, each 
 31 contributing to the university’s growth, character, and academic 
 32 standing in the State University System, and 
 33 WHEREAS, under the current leadership of Dr. Timur and the 
 34 FGCU Board of Trustees, the university continues to foster 
 35 entrepreneurial thinking, civic responsibility, and 
 36 environmental consciousness among its students as it prepares 
 37 them for productive and meaningful professional lives, and 
 38 WHEREAS, FGCU has strategically expanded to an enrollment 
 39 of more than 16,600 students and now offers 66 undergraduate, 28 
 40 graduate, and 7 doctoral degrees, as well as 19 academic 
 41 certificates, thereby broadening educational access and meeting 
 42 statewide workforce needs, and 
 43 WHEREAS, the pathways to student success at FGCU have 
 44 yielded national recognition for service learning, with FGCU 
 45 standing as one of the only public institutions to require 
 46 service learning for all undergraduates, resulting in 5.3 
 47 million service hours contributed to the Southwest Florida 
 48 community since 1997, and 
 49 WHEREAS, the university preserves half the land of its 800 
 50 acre campus as natural habitat, serving as a living laboratory 
 51 for interdisciplinary learning, hands-on research, and student 
 52 engagement guided by faculty expertise, and 
 53 WHEREAS, FGCU established The Water School, which opened in 
 54 2022, distinguishing the university at the center of one of the 
 55 most complex freshwater and saltwater systems in the nation and 
 56 enabling research and teaching that addresses the health of 
 57 waterways and their impact on surrounding ecosystems, regional 
 58 and state economies, and the communities that rely on them, and 
 59 WHEREAS, FGCU continues to work collaboratively with the 
 60 State University System to support and meet statewide and 
 61 regional workforce demands by graduating career-ready students 
 62 from the Marieb College School of Nursing, with its six programs 
 63 having a 100-percent first-time passage rate on the required 
 64 nursing licensure examinations in 2018, 2019, 2023, and 2024, 
 65 and 
 66 WHEREAS, the FGCU Alumni Association has more than 48,000 
 67 members, with almost 70 percent of alumni working in their field 
 68 of study and approximately 2,000 alumni-founded businesses 
 69 contributing to the economic vitality of Southwest Florida, and 
 70 WHEREAS, FGCU has continued to advance economic 
 71 diversification in the region it serves through innovation in 
 72 agribusiness, construction management, environmental 
 73 engineering, and other critical industries, and 
 74 WHEREAS, the university maintains strong collaboration with 
 75 employers to ensure its programs align with community and 
 76 regional workforce needs, thereby contributing to a more 
 77 prosperous and thriving economic engine in Southwe