On Wednesday morning, Governor Healey formally approved her administration's first state budget by adding her signature to a spending proposal that is largely the same as the one that the Legislature approved at the end of July.
In addition to historic increases in funding for the state's Regional Transit Authorities, the new budget will also expand the MBTA's board of directors and give the Mayor of Boston the authority to appoint one of its members.
The change is a victory for Mayor Wu, who was pressing for the City of Boston to get a seat on the MBTA's governing board long before she was elected as the city's Mayor.
In a statement issued Wednesday evening, Mayor Wu expressed gratitude to the Governor and Legislature “for passing a budget that makes significant investments to support Boston residents and finally gives Boston a direct role in MBTA governance.... We look forward to partnering closely on this critical and urgent endeavor to build the quality transit that our entire region deserves.”
A press official for the Wu administration said that the mayor's office will soon "open an expedited process" for people to apply for the new board seat.
The amendment will also give the Governor one more MBTA board appointment, which will expand the size of the MBTA board by two people.
The previous law (Section 7 of Chapter 161A) specifies that the MBTA board should be made up of the Secretary of Transportation, one appointee of the MBTA Advisory Board, and 5 persons appointed by the Governor, for 7 seats in all.
Under the newly-approved budget law, the board will consist of the secretary, the Advisory Board appointee, an appointee of the Mayor of Boston, and 6 other persons selected by the Governor.
