California has taken another step to equalize the playing field between men and women workers.

On Tuesday, Gov. Jerry Brown signed the Fair Pay Act into law, which his office touts as one of the strongest equal pay act bills in the nation.

"Sixty-six years after passage of the California Equal Pay Act, many women still earn less money than men doing the same or similar work," Brown said, according to NPR. "This bill is another step toward closing the persistent wage gap between men and women."

Under the new gender wage equality law, women are given new tools and protections if they believe they're being paid unfairly because of their gender. If a female worker discovers that she is being paid less than a male colleague, then the law forces the employer to justify a gender-based wage gap by proving that a male co-worker deserves a higher wage based on seniority or merit.

In turn, women no longer have to fear retribution if they question their employer about unequal pay. Supporters also hope that the new law may will encourage more women to ask questions.

"Women are head of household in 40 percent of households," said the bill's co-sponsor, California Assemblyman Bill Dodd, reports PRI. "It's not just a gender problem - it's a family problem; it's a human problem. And essentially what [bill] 1354 does is to make sure that, in the state of California, we're going to practice what we preach."

Meanwhile, the author of the California Fair Pay Act, Democratic State Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, argued that pay inequality hurts the state economy.

"Families rely on women's income more than ever before," she said. "Because of the wage gap, our state and families are missing out on $33.6 billion a year. That money could be flowing into families' pocketbooks, into our businesses and our economy."