With eyes on surplus, legislators renew call for major crime bills

Staring down the barrel of a $400 million budget surplus for next year, the Tennessee Public Safety Coalition on Monday renewed its push for roughly $88 million in new legislation to keep violent offenders behind bars for longer stretches.

At a Monday afternoon news conference at Legislative Plaza, the same group of lawmakers, district attorneys and police chiefs who two months ago announced their support for the broad legislative agenda that includes bills to toughen sentences for both gun-toting and gang-banging violent criminals, again called on the Legislature and the Bredesen administration to pass the crime package, especially in light of the state