Martin Walsh

Boston Mayor Martin Walsh speaks during a news conference in Boston Friday, Jan. 9, 2015 after Boston was picked by the USOC as its bid city for the 2024 Olympic Summer Games. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)

(Winslow Townson)

BOSTON -- Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh is backing 56 different bills at the start of the new legislative session, including one that would allow the city's bars to stay open well past their current 2 a.m. last call.

Walsh, with the help of Belmont State Sen. William Brownsberger and Dorchester State Rep. Evandro Carvalho, refiled a bill called An Act Modernizing the Business Licensing Process to not only allow bars to stay open as late as 4 a.m., but to do away regulations on things like billiards tables and fortune tellers.

The push to extend the hours that bars can legally serve in Boston is part of a broader effort by Walsh's administration that began soon after he took office to make the city more appealing to young professionals.

"After 17 years in the legislature and now as mayor of Boston, I see the impact Boston has not only on the region but on the Commonwealth," Walsh said in a statement.

With the help of North End State Rep. Aaron Michlewitz, Walsh is pushing a second major change to the city's liquor regulations that would reform the way punishments for violations are issued. The current system requires owners to shut down for a day or lose their license, but if Walsh has his way the city will be able to financially penalize companies instead of force them to close down for a day or permanently. The mayor's office said in a statement that the current system unfairly penalizes bartenders and servers for the failures of their bosses.

The state laws overseeing Boston's liquor licensing go back decades and are seen by some as extremely outdated. Walsh's previous efforts to extend the city's serving hours failed in the last session, but At-Large Boston City Councilor Ayanna Pressley's effort to increase the number of liquor licenses available to the city by 75 was approved as part of the massive economic development bill passed by the legislature last July.

Walsh is pushing changes to how the city taxes online travel sites that sell hotel rooms, how blighted properties are defined, and seeking the ability for the city to lower the speed limit in residential neighborhoods from 30 miles per hour to 25.

The entire list of bills being pushed by the Walsh administration can be found here.