California Governor Jerry Brown signs landmark bill calling women to sit on boards of directors



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California Sunday became the first state to require women's boards of directors.

"Given all the special privileges that companies have enjoyed for so long, it is high time that corporate boards include more than half of the 'people' in America," Governor Jerry Brown wrote at the time. signature of the bill.

The bill, entitled SB-826, was introduced by state senator Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara).

It requires that any California-based company have at least one woman on its board by the end of 2019. By the end of 2021, the bill provides for the increase of the number of women to at least two directors if the company has five directors. or to a minimum of three women if the corporation has six or more directors.

Jackson thanked Brown in a tweet on Sunday, writing "Another glass ceiling is broken, and women will finally have a place at the table in the boardrooms".

California Senator Toni Atkins (D-San Diego), co-author of the bill, echoed Jackson's tweet.

Both "authors of this bill because it is indeed" high-end "boards that include women," tweeted Atkins.

Everyone was not a fan of the measure. The California Chamber of Commerce and a coalition of about 30 companies and groups in California argued that the bill was unconstitutional.

"Gender is an important aspect of diversity, as are other protected classifications recognized by our laws," the coalition wrote in a letter to the State Senate of California in May. "We are concerned that the mandate of SB 826, which focuses solely on gender, potentially places it as a priority on other aspects of diversity."

In his declaration of signature, Brown recognized the opponents of the bill but explained why he signed it anyway.

"There have been many objections to this bill and serious legal concerns have been raised," Brown wrote. "I do not minimize the potential flaws that could indeed be fatal to its final implementation. Nevertheless, recent events in Washington, DC – and beyond – clearly show that many have not understood the message.

At the end of the statement, Brown paid a visit to the Senate Senate Committee on the Judiciary, following the busy Thursday testimony by Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, Supreme Court candidates.

Ford accused the federal court of appeal judge of having sexually assaulted her when they were both high school students. Two other women have laid charges of misconduct against Kavanaugh, which he has all denied.

The committee voted Friday to advance Kavanaugh's appointment.

A final vote was expected next week, but Senate leaders agreed to conduct an additional FBI investigation into the charges, which could last up to a week, as a result of a series of charges. dramatic events that led to the committee's vote on Friday.

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