Governor Maura Healey signed into law a $388.7 million supplemental budget Wednesday that also contained a provision to allow local governments to continue holding remote and hybrid meetings into 2025.

The bill had passed the state senate just days before the remote option was set to expire. If not approved, towns would have had to return to in-person meetings next month.

The measure, first introduced in March 2020, allowed towns and regional governments across the state to continue hosting meetings via publicly accessible video calls.

Where meetings largely had to be held-in person prior to the pandemic, remote and hybrid meetings have proved popular with Island officials three years on. In 2021, legislation to extend the remote option stalled on Beacon Hill, prompting town governments to halt their meetings for several weeks until Governor Charlie Baker signed the extension.

Some town select boards have already moved back to hybrid or in-person meetings, but Edgartown’s select board has remained entirely remote for the past three years and had been paying close attention to the bill’s movement should the town abruptly need to return to in-person meetings.

The Chilmark select board has also largely met remotely; Oak Bluffs routinely allows remote participation.

In the past, Edgartown officials have commended the remote option for encouraging civic participation, especially among older, health-conscious individuals and seasonal residents who otherwise could not participate in town life in the off-season.

In their select board meeting on Monday, Edgartown town administrator James Hagerty expressed relief that the town would have more time to consider a return to in-person, or not.

“If we want to change paths, we don’t have to have any answers right now,” Mr. Hagerty said. “But we have a little more flexibility now.”

In their public hearing on Wednesday, members of the Edgartown zoning board of appeals voiced their support for the remote option.

“I could see it being a problem in court, but for smaller meetings, this has been working very well for us,” zoning board member Carol Grant said.

The supplemental budget also allowed the continued expiditing of outdoor dining permits and the sale of beer, wine and cocktails to go. Funding in the budget will also offer $130 million for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) program, providing an offramp from the extra federal funding allocated due to COVID-19 set to expire this year, as well as $21 million for schools and $1.25 million for family and reproductive health services.