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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The U.S. Department of Defense was seeking 12 Guard members to assist with administrative, logistical and clerical duties inside federal immigration detention facilities, according to a governor’s aide, who added that the governor’s denial was “divorced” from politics. -
At a rare in-person press conference in Burlington Monday morning, Sanders said his office estimates that 45,000 Vermonters will lose health coverage as a result of Medicaid cuts in the "Big Beautiful Bill" approved by Congress earlier this month. -
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, supplies the vast majority of food aid in Vermont, where about 65,000 residents received $155 million in benefits last year. -
Vermont Foodbank President John Sayles says the organization has laid off seven staff members and eliminated two vacant positions to offset a post-COVID drop in government funding. -
Roughly 20 homes in Sutton remained cut off from road access as of Friday, according to Kyle Seymour, the town fire chief. -
The flooding came on the exact anniversary of catastrophic flooding that hit Vermont on July 10, 2023 and again, on the same day, in 2024. -
The Trump administration wants states to assume a bigger role in disaster response and recovery. The ambiguity over what that looks like has complicated the task of state officials trying to gird for the next catastrophe. -
Here are some highlights of what Vermont's politicians accomplished over the winter and spring, including major health care and education bills and a few others that may have flown under the radar. -
The legislation sets in motion a process that could lead to foundational shifts in how Vermont funds and governs public schools. But there's no guarantee that the state's schools, or its taxpayers, will see the transformational changes the law aims to deliver. -
The bill represents one of the biggest state income tax breaks in recent memory, and it marks the culmination of Gov. Phil Scott’s nearly decade-old push to exempt most military pensions from state income taxes.
