CHICAGO (AP) — When Illinois lawmakers voted in 2009 to hire a private company to run the state's $2 billion-a-year lottery, they had high hopes of making more money that could be funneled into education and construction projects. Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner's administration said the delay reflects the challenges Illinois and other states have faced since turning some lottery operations over to the private sector. All three states have lowered revenue projections or restructured contracts because of disappointing sales. Illinois has more than $12 billion in unpaid bills, and funding for social services, higher education and other programs has been slashed because lawmakers have gone two years without passing a budget. Rauner — a businessman making his first bid for office — made the handling of the lottery an issue in their bruising campaign for governor. No money was transferred to the capital fund "due to poor overall results by the lottery," the report from the state Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability stated. Last month, a group of lottery players sued Northstar after a Chicago Tribune investigation found that the lottery did not award many of the biggest prizes in some of its largest scratch-off, instant games.