BOSTON – Gov. Maura Healey gave her OK to sweeping state policy changes Monday afternoon as part of the delayed 2025 budget, signing free community college, online mass lottery products, free rides on regional transit authorities and more into law while making only minor tweaks to the spending plan created by Democrats in the House and Senate.

The governor signed nearly the entire budget that the Legislature sent her 10 days ago, approving all but three of the 261 policy proposals lawmakers filled. But she also potentially created more work for the Legislature by trimming $317 million from 60 separate lines in the spending plan with her veto pen just more than 48 hours before formal sessions are due to end, leaving the House and Senate little time to take votes necessary if they choose to override the governor.

The budget, which the governor’s office said totals $57.78 billion after Healey’s action, increases state spending by about $1.7 billion, or about 3.1%, over last year’s budget. It is using about $1.2 billion in one-time revenue to support spending during a time of volatile state tax collections, and an expected increase in revenue from the state’s new tax on household incomes above $1 million is also helping the state boost spending.

“The budget today represents a lot of things. One thing it represents is investing in things we already lead in, and making them even better. This includes our number one rated schools and our nationally leading childcare policy. We are tackling our biggest challenges by lowering household costs and improving transportation,” the governor said during a signing ceremony at her ceremonial office Monday afternoon.

Lawmakers stuffed the budget with policy provisions, authorizing free community college, free rides on regional transit services and legal online lottery sales to fund a permanent Commonwealth Cares for Children (C3) grant program launched during the pandemic with federal dollars — all of which Healey signed into law Monday.

The governor also praised the budget’s investment in her Literacy Launch program, which aims to connect all children ages 3 through third grade with high-quality, evidence-based reading instruction, as well as its commitment of 1% of total spending to environmental and energy initiatives.

The Senate initiative to make community college permanently free for all will cost $117.5 million, which covers tuition and fees for students. And the House-backed idea to authorize online lottery sales is expected to bring in $100 million for the popular C3 early education program.

Another part of the budget aims to prevent so-called condominium theft, which refers to a municipality taking more of a property owner’s earned capital than is owed in unpaid taxes and other expenses.

“All of these investments are aimed at making life better, making life easier for people in Massachusetts, making it more affordable to live here, to work here, to raise children here. This also makes us more competitive — more competitive for our employers, for economic growth, especially when we compare ourselves to other states,” Healey said. “So it’s a really important investment, this budget.”

The 2025 budget is supported by $1.3 billion in revenue generated from the state’s 4% surtax on household incomes over $1 million, on top of the $40.2 billion general state revenue base that lawmakers and the administration agreed to months ago.

The tax revenue — which is limited by law to education and transportation uses — is used in the budget to cover tuition-free community college, free RTA travel, the cost of providing universal free school meals in K-12 schools, enhanced minimum aid funding to local schools, additional financial support for Massachusetts public college and university students, local road and bridge funding and more.

“These are just a few of the transformative investments made possible by the ultra-wealthy paying more of their fair share in state taxes. We’re starting to rebuild the transportation and education infrastructure that everyone in our state, from families and seniors to workers and businesses, needs to to succeed, said Andrew Farnitano, spokesman for the group Raise Up Massachusetts that successfully pushed for the surtax.

The 2025 budget includes $110 million for the state’s 15 regional transit authorities, $40 million of which is projected to be used to allow those agencies to eliminate rider fares.

Lawmakers and budget managers in the Healey administration will also likely have to work on funding the state’s overburdened emergency family shelter system in fiscal year 2025. The budget Healey signed Monday includes $326 million to contribute to the state’s ongoing shelters, but the actual costs of providing housing to homeless families rose to roughly $1 billion last fiscal year, though Healey has since changed the program’s terms in an effort to control costs.

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A host of lawmakers joined Healey in her ceremonial office for the budget signing — Senate President Karen Spilka, House Speaker Ronald Mariano, Michewlitz, Senate Ways and Means Chairman Michael Rodrigues, Democratic Reps. Tommy Vitolo of Brookline and Adam Scanlon of North Attleborough, and Weymouth’s Republican Senator Patrick O’Connor.

“What we have here is a document that we can all kind of bow to,” Mariano said.

Healey apparently felt the same way, judging by the light touch she took with her veto and amendment pen. Of the 261 external policy sections, Healey approved 258 in full and sent back three in proposed changes. And of the budget’s nearly $58 billion in spending, Healey cut or vetoed 60 line items for a total cut of $317 million, or about 0.5%. Mass. The Taxpayers Foundation said Healey’s veto is “the highest level of proposed budget cuts in at least five years.”

The MTF said Monday that Healey’s veto amounts to $316.8 million in gross spending with a net effect of $248 million. Health care spending, including the MassHealth managed care line, received the bulk of the reductions at $233.3 million. The governor also vetoed $24 million from education accounts, $19.7 million from support services, $11.6 million from energy and environment items, $8.2 million from economic development initiatives, $1.5 million from housing accounts , $600,000 from public security funds and $9.9 million categorized as “other,” MTF said.

The Legislature has just two days left in formal sessions to consider Healey’s veto. The governor can’t prevent the House and Senate from overriding her veto with two-thirds support in each branch, but she can still veto any of the policy sections the Legislature revisits after July 31, and the Legislature would effectively be powerless to respond .