State Rep. Phil Christofanelli is the latest guest on the Politically Speaking podcast, where he talked about his legislative priorities and key issues of the 2023 session.
Christofanelli represents Missouri’s 104th House District, which takes in a portion of St. Charles County. He was first elected in 2016 and will be unable to run again for the House after 2024 due to term limits. Christofanelli announced he’s running for a Missouri Senate seat that’s being vacated by Sen. Bill Eigel, R-Weldon Spring, who's not running in 2024.
Here’s what Christofanelli talked about on the program:
- Why he’s filing legislation in response to water contamination in the city of St. Charles. That issue has become a major focal point of the city’s mayoral race, where incumbent Daniel Borgmeyer is facing a challenge from Councilman Tom Besselman.
- The debate over what’s known as open enrollment, which would allow someone to send their child to a public or charter school outside the district in which they live. That issue has received more attention this session, as it is a major priority for some GOP legislators.
- His bill to legalize sports betting and whether it will get entangled in the ongoing debate about legalizing video lottery terminals.
- The possible trajectory of bills to bar transgender girls from playing girls sports and prohibit educators from discussing sexual orientation or gender identity. Christofanelli is one of two openly gay GOP lawmakers in the General Assembly.
- Why he supports a ballot item making constitutional amendments more difficult to pass. The Housepassed a measure raising the threshold to approve an amendment from a simple majority on a statewide vote to 60%.
A graduate of Washington University, Christofanelli was elected a Republican committeeman when he was 21. He later served on the Missouri Republican Party state executive committee.
Christofanelli completed work on his law degree at Washington University while serving in the House. In addition to his legislative duties, Christofanelli is a practicing attorney.