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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An informal survey of lawmakers across political and geographical lines reveals significant angst over a still-developing reform plan that many say represents the most important vote of their legislative careers. -
The yearslong push to put guardrails on when — and how — companies can commodify key aspects of a person’s identity has taken on new urgency in Montpelier. But the tension between strict consumer protections and their potential impact on local businesses continues to thwart compromise over an issue that states are reckoning with nationwide. -
House and Senate negotiators tasked with finding a path on education reform didn't talk about funding, governance or taxes this week. They fought over scheduling. -
Advocates say as many as 13,000 low-income Vermonters could see their federal food benefits reduced or eliminated under the budget reconciliation bill being considered by Congress. -
Marathon talks over a potentially historic reform package failed to yield a compromise, and Vermont lawmakers postponed adjournment until mid-June to give negotiators more time to work. -
The Legislature’s latest response to the summer floods of 2023 and 2024 delves into the minutiae of municipal finances. It would give towns more time to pay off emergency loans and provide flexibility on how they structure their debt. -
Democratic lawmakers have spent the last five years laying the groundwork for the most aggressive emissions-reduction policies Vermont has ever seen, but a political sea change after the November election has brought that work to a “standstill,” according to legislators and climate advocates. -
The event, which draws about 20,000 people a year, has been held at the state airport in Highgate since 1985. But the state of Vermont will no longer let the organization use that site, and they’ve been unable to secure an alternative location. -
“I can’t ever remember feeling as bad about a vote as I do on this one,” Sen. Ann Cummings, the Democratic chair of the Senate Finance Committee, told her colleagues after voting to advance the education reform bill Thursday. “But it will move us forward.” -
A state budget plan that appears to have the support of Republican Gov. Phil Scott would hold back more than $100 million in anticipated revenue surpluses to deal with potential cuts to federal spending by Congress.
