Peter Hirschfeld
ReporterHelp shape my reporting:
The Vermont Statehouse is often called the people’s house. I am your eyes and ears there. I keep a close eye on how legislation could affect your life; I also regularly speak to the people who write that legislation. The more I hear from you, the better I’ll be at my job. So, what issues do you want lawmakers to focus on? What info do you most urgently need?
I'm eager to hear from you. Get in touch here.
About Peter:
Peter Hirschfeld covers state government and the Vermont Legislature. He is based in Vermont Public’s Capital Bureau located across the street from Vermont’s Statehouse.
Hirschfeld is a Vermont journalist who has covered the Statehouse since 2009, most recently as bureau chief for the Rutland Herald and Times Argus. He began his career in 2003, working as a local sports reporter and copy editor at the Times Argus.
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Members of a task force created to draw new school district maps say forced mergers would unleash disruption and dislocation in an education system that isn’t yet prepared for that level of transformation. -
Gov. Phil Scott insists on lawmakers 'keeping our word' on education reform in State of State speechGov. Phil Scott urged lawmakers during his State of the State address Wednesday to defy political headwinds and follow through on sweeping education reform legislation that passed last year but is now in jeopardy. -
Senate President Pro Tem Phil Baruth will introduce legislation this week that he says will deliver property tax relief as soon as next year, but the proposal is already encountering skepticism within the Statehouse. -
The critical first phase of Act 73 — mandatory school district mergers — has ignited fierce opposition in communities across Vermont. And lawmakers now have to confront the possibility that the reform law, enacted just six months ago, no longer has the political support needed to move forward as originally envisioned. -
Vermont has a policy that governs the prevention and resolution of harassment, hazing and bullying in schools, but many students and parents say it lacks the humanity and rigor needed to address what is by all accounts a growing problem in Vermont. -
Volunteers who helped rebuild communities after the summer floods of 2023 and 2024 have spent more than a year developing a “resiliency toolkit” for Vermonters who find themselves at the epicenter of future disasters. -
The Scott administration told members of the House Appropriations Committee Tuesday that it wants to use nearly $75 million in surplus revenue to blunt the impact of a projected 11.9% average increase in property tax bills next year. -
The guard is expected to be deployed later this month but said it cannot disclose where it's being deployed or for what purpose. -
Heidi Pérez, de dieciocho años, siguió a su madre a Vermont desde Chiapas, México. Está luchando contra una orden de deportación mientras cursa su primer año de universidad en la Universidad Estatal de Vermont, en Castleton. -
Eighteen-year-old Heidi Perez followed her mother to Vermont from Chiapas, Mexico. She is fighting a deportation order as she attends her first year of college at Vermont State University in Castleton.
