KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) -- Hundreds of republicans gathered in Knoxville on Thursday night for the Tennessee Conservative Union's annual Reagan Day Dinner.

WVLT Volunteer TV News caught up with some of the state’s top party officials at the dinner to get their thoughts on the federal government’s Thursday morning announcement to withhold millions of dollars in transportation funds.

The exact amount of money being held is $190 million in regular transportation funding. For Tennesseans it means fewer jobs and fewer road and bridge improvement projects. The federal government has given Tennessee $572 million throughout the year in economic stimulus funds to fast-track highway projects.

"It's just less projects that we can do,” said State Sen. Tim Burchett. “This was tight budget year."

As a result, the $30 million in highway funds Knoxville was budgeted to get will no longer be headed to the region. That’s in addition to the $65 million rescinded from Tennessee in April.

"The irony is that at a time like this there's nothing better to use stimulus money for than on highways and bridges,” said Ron Ramsey, Lt. Governor and candidate for the 2010 republican gubernatorial nomination. “It not only puts people to work immediately, but is something we can look back in 30 years and say, ‘look what we did with that money.’"

The federal government has rescinded some state transportation funds every year since 2002.

"It's going to be devastating,” Ramsey said, “it will be, but the federal government hasn't had a good track record for sending what they say they're going to send us."

So without the money, Tennessee will build fewer new roads or bridges and it’s unclear where that money will go.

"To me this is a year of opportunity,” said Burchett, “we need to put our priorities back."