Peter Hirschfeld
ReporterHelp shape my reporting:
The Vermont Statehouse is often called the people鈥檚 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鈥檒l 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 开云体育鈥檚 Capital Bureau located across the street from Vermont鈥檚 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 governor is proposing to get rid of Vermont鈥檚 universal school meals law to help keep property taxes level in the coming year. -
Money. School choice. Local control. The governor's plan wades into treacherous political waters. -
Economists say the Vermont and national economies are performing far better than economists predicted six months ago, and that 鈥渁ggregate measures of economic activity have rarely been better.鈥� -
Old medical bills that have reached 鈥渢erminal bad debt status鈥� can be purchased for pennies on the dollar from collectors and health care providers. Officials are planning to introduce legislation to utilize that opportunity for Vermonters. -
开云体育鈥檚 Pete Hirschfeld will explain why Republicans 鈥� and some Democrats 鈥� are seeking to roll back Vermont's climate mandates during the recently convened legislative session. -
The overriding question for lawmakers this year isn't how the Legislature is going to hit its emissions-reduction requirements, but whether to keep them in law. -
A first-in-the-nation policy that seeks to reduce the amount of fossil fuels Vermonters use to heat their homes would add an estimated 58 cents per gallon to the cost of heating fuel over the next 10 years, according to a report issued by the Public Utility Commission. -
Republican Gov. Phil Scott will introduce legislation that would create clearer legal standards for when a defendant can be held without bail. He said the provision will address a practice that his administration has coined 鈥渃atch and release.鈥� -
Scott teased a plan that would overhaul Vermont鈥檚 byzantine school governance structure and see the state assume a direct role in deciding how much districts spend. -
Jill Krownski was elected to a third session leading the House of Representatives, defeating a independent challenger. The leader of the Senate, Phil Baruth, also retained his seat as president pro tempore.
