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The Public Interest Law Project (“PILP”) enters its 30th year amid growing pressures on California’s most vulnerable communities. In 2025, climate-driven disasters like the Eaton Fire displaced long-time residents, skyrocketing rents pushed families to the brink of homelessness, and cities continued to resist fair share housing laws. At the same time, the shifting federal administration imposed harsh policies, leaving many without critical safety-net protections such as emergency food and health care. 

Throughout this difficult year, our team acted with passion and resolve to ensure due process for safety-net programs, protect unhoused individuals, challenge unlawful rent hikes, and pass legislation removing barriers to shelter and advancing preservation of affordable homes. With partners, we also crafted a detailed report revealing how post-disaster shifts in land ownership will determine who can rebuild in Altadena – and who will be left behind.  

Our co-founder Michael Rawson was honored with the prestigious Loren Miller Award, recognizing decades of work advancing housing justice, expanding choice, protecting tenants, and challenging exclusionary zoning. As we honor this milestone, we also reflect on a year in which PILP and our partners advanced significant victories to promote and defend access to housing, income, supportive services, food security, and health care for all Californians to live with dignity.

• Holding cities accountable for their fair share of housing: After a two-year legal battle, the 4th District Court of Appeal ruled that Huntington Beach, along with all other charter cities, is bound by the expedited procedures and judicial remedies available when a jurisdiction does not have a valid housing element. This brings us closer to ending the City’s open defiance of state law and ensuring equitable housing opportunities for all residents.   
  

• Establishing due process rights in government programs: As part of the budget trailer bill process, PILP co-led statewide advocacy to establish due-process protections in major housing and homelessness programs: CalWORKs Housing Support Program, Bringing Families Home, Home Safe, and the Housing and Disability Advocacy Program — ensuring families receive clear notice and a fair chance to challenge decisions regarding their housing stability. 
  

• Boosting timely access to emergency CalFresh benefits in Sonoma County: PILP and partners boosted access to timely benefits for the 30,000 households in Sonoma County at risk of going hungry; with our involvement the rate of timeliness increased from 46% to 96%. 
  

• Protecting San Leandro mobilehome residents from unlawful rent hikes: After a park owner tried to impose steep rent hikes in violation of law, we and co-counsel Centro Legal de la Raza intervened, resulting in two court decisions reaffirming the application of the local rent control ordinance to the park.

• Civil rights advocacy: PILP continued defending the rights of unhoused community members in San Francisco and Santa Rosa. In Homeless Action! v. County of Sonoma, we successfully resisted multiple motions for summary judgment challenging our clients’ standing to bring their claims.
  

• Training the next generation of public interest lawyers: PILP's 2025 educational publications included an updated Surplus Lands Act FAQ, California Housing Element Manual, and a technical assistance memo on the replacement housing and relocation assistance requirements of the Housing Crisis Act. 
  

• Strengthening California’s Housing Element Law:
  
  • ‍ AB 670 improves Housing Element annual reporting by requiring reporting on demolished units and replacement housing and allowing jurisdictions to claim credit for certain projects that convert existing units to deed-restricted affordable housing. ‍
  • SB 340 adds safeguards to help ensure interim housing and emergency shelters—including those offering wrap-around services—cannot be unfairly blocked or delayed. 

Every challenge this year has reinforced the urgency of our work to advance racial and economic justice and protect California’s low-income communities.