A bill signed into law this week by Gov. Jerry Brown has made gender diversity on company boards not just a moral issue, but a legal one for companies in California.

Companies headquartered in the Golden State will need to have at least one woman on their board by 2019. Larger boards will be required to have more women, two out of five or three out of seven directors, and be given until 2021 to comply.

California's Senate Bill No. 826 comes a year into the #MeToo movement, which has prompted discussions on workplace gender equity. It's the first time a U.S. state has set a quota for women on boards, a rather controversial approach to boosting diversity.