Report: Burris' Son Hired by State Housing Authority

The son of Sen. Roland Burris landed a job with the Illinois Housing Development Authority five months ago under the administration of Gov. Rod Blagojevich,

The Chicago Sun-Times reported Thursday that Roland Burris II, 42, was hired on Sept. 10.

He serves as senior counsel for the state's housing authority, a job that pays $75,000-a-year.

Burris' hiring came six weeks after the Internal Revenue Service issued him with a $34,163 tax lien and three weeks after a mortgage company filed a foreclosure lawsuit on his South Side Chicago home, the paper reported Thursday. 
 
The Housing Authority Administration officiates over mortgage programs for low-income home buyers and anti-foreclosure initiatives.
  
Authority spokeswoman Rebecca Boykin told the Sun-Times that Burris' son was given the $75,000 job based on his qualifications and in response to a published job posting.

"Roland Burris II was hired by the Illinois Housing Development Authority's Legal Department based on his qualifications in response to a published job posting," Boykin told the newspaper. "As an employer, it is not IHDA's practice to request financial information from applicants."

The senator is fending off calls for his resignation because of conflicting testimony on fundraising for Blagojevich that he provided to the House panel that drafted impeachment charges against the former governor.  Burris was appointed by Blagojevich in late December to fill President Obama's vacated U.S. Senate seat.

Chicago labor lawyer Tom Geoghegan -- a Democratic candidate for chief of staff Rahm Emanuel's former congressional seat -- filed a federal lawsuit Thursday forcing the state to hold a special election for the Senate seat occupied by Burris.

Geoghegan is arguing that Burris' appointment was unconstitutional.  The U.S. Constitution's 17th Amendment requires that voters -- not governors -- select U.S. senators. Geoghegan is claiming voters must therefore decide which candidate should fill President Obama's former Senate seat.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has also cited the Constitution in expressing her preference for a special election.

"It is my opinion that the legislature may pass a law allowing the people of Illinois to elect a U.S. senator to fill the seat vacated by President Barack Obama. Such a law would be consistent with the U.S. Constitution," Madigan wrote in an 11-page opinion on Wednesday.

Click here to read more on this story from the Chicago Sun-Times.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.