A toast to economics

With Beacon Hill refusing to give up its stranglehold on Boston liquor licenses, the City Council is once again trying to wrangle additional ones — especially for neighborhoods still underserved by sit-down restaurants.

A liquor license or even a wine and beer license can make the difference between profit and loss for a small neighborhood restaurant. And restaurants in turn bring activity and life to corners of the city where that can have real economic impact.

And so this current effort led by Councilor Ayanna Pressley seeks a total of 152 new licenses to come on line over three years. But 105 of them would be designated for seven neighborhoods (Dorchester, East Boston, Hyde Park, Jamaica Plain, Mattapan, Mission Hill and Roxbury), another 15 for Main Streets districts, and 30 available citywide.

The licenses would be offered at a cost of only $3,000 — compared to the six-figure price some now cost on the open market. The “catch” here is that the neighborhood licenses would be nontransferable — so they couldn’t be bought or sold on the open market. If a place goes out of business, the license would revert back to the city.

The usual grumbling, of course, is coming from the usual places — those who already have licenses. Pressley has heard that before — in 2014 when the city received 75 new liquor licenses.

“People said the market couldn’t handle it,” she said. “I think over the past few years we’ve proven it can.”

Approval by the City Council, which held a hearing on the proposal Thursday, ought to be a no-brainer.

Then it would head to the Legislature — because of the arcane system lawmakers refuse to relinquish. So, letting Boston have more licenses to be used in a rather innovative way is frankly the least the Legislature can do for the city.