Gov. Maura Healey signs off on the bulk of the state legislature's fiscal year 2024 budget bill Aug. 9, with cabinet officials and top lawmakers looking on. Photo by Sam Drysdale | State House News Service

In her most significant legislative action since taking office in January, Gov. Maura Healey on Wednesday signed into law her first annual state budget.

Healey approved a $56 billion budget for fiscal year 2024 that increases spending roughly 6.2 percent over the budget enacted last summer, distributes newly available revenue from a surtax on high earners, and implements a slew of major policy changes, including the addition of two seats to the MBTA’s board of directors, one of which would be appointed by the mayor of Boston.

“I’m grateful to the Legislature and Governor Healey for passing a budget that makes significant investments to support Boston residents and finally gives Boston a direct role in MBTA governance,” Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said in a statement. “Boston’s economic strength, community well-being, and cultural vibrancy all depend on public transportation. We look forward to partnering closely on this critical and urgent endeavor to build the quality transit that our entire region deserves.”

One outside section Healey approved will revive and make permanent a lapsed pandemic-era eviction diversion program, which requires courts to pause eviction proceedings for failure to pay rent if a tenant has a pending application for rental aid.

Flanked by Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, Cabinet secretaries and legislative leaders for a bill-signing ceremony in her office Wednesday, Healey had nothing but praise to offer for the budget despite the delay in getting it to her desk. Fiscal year 2024 began July 1.

Notable Spending Boost OK’d

For the first time, the spending plan makes use of revenue newly available from a 4 percent surtax on annual personal income above $1 million that voters approved in November, which must be earmarked for education and transportation uses.

The budget divides an expected $1 billion in surtax money into $524 million for education and $477 for transportation. Investments include the launch of a “MassReconnect” program that supports free community college for students ages 25 and older, MBTA infrastructure improvements and a permanent universal school meals option.

One percent of the total budget, about $558 million, will go toward the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, which Healey lauded as a major milestone reflecting the state’s commitment to softening the impacts of climate change and moving to a clean-energy future.

The budget also calls for a major increase in funding for the emergency assistance family shelter program, pushing that line item to $325 million or 48 percent more than the fiscal 2023 budget as enacted last summer.

Massachusetts shelters have been overwhelmed by a sharp increase in families seeking assistance, many of them immigrants, prompting Healey on Tuesday to declare a state of emergency.

Healey agreed with the legislature’s proposal to place a $581 million hold in the budget designed to cover the expected impact of a tax relief package, which remains mired in Democrat-led negotiations more than a year after lawmakers first began debating the idea.

“We must not, however, lose sight of the need for tax relief,” Healey wrote in her signing letter. She added, “The people of Massachusetts are relying on us to get tax relief done as soon as possible.”