New Jersey’s lawmakers want to require employers to pay women the same as men for essentially the same work. But Gov. Chris Christie (R) thinks they went too far.

The bill that passed both chambers of the state’s legislature would have banned employers from paying women less for “substantially similar” work as men, and would only have allowed differing pay rates between genders if employers could prove it was based on something besides sex, such as education, experience, or performance. The similarity of the work would have been determined based on the required responsibilities, effort, and skills for jobs across all of an employer’s operations.

Most equal pay laws require the same pay for the exact same work. But New Jersey’s bill would have been much stronger, reaching beyond the exact same jobs to require women to be paid equally if they’re doing the same tasks in a different role.

More: Chris Christie Vetoes Equal Pay Bill, Calling It ‘Business Unfriendly’