The Austin City Council will take a step toward permanently banning e-cigarette smoking in public places.

The council will discuss its first reading of an e-cigarette ban policy during its public meeting starting at 5:30 p.m. Monday. Though the measure would need to pass unanimously during its first reading, the council will likely enact the policy later this month after its second reading.

Council members passed a one-year moratorium last April banning the use of e-cigarettes and hookahs in public places and businesses. Yet the issue divided the council, which voted 4-3 for the ban twice before enacting it. The council once again voted 4-3 on Feb. 16 to move the issue forward.

Council Member Michael Jordal, who was the most vocal critic of the moratorium in 2014, said he still believes the policy would be government overreach and limits a resident’s ability to decide whether to he or she would allow smoking in a business.

E-cigarettes are a cylindrical device used to heat nicotine and produce a vapor. They have been on the market for about six years and haven’t undergone thorough testing by the Food and Drug Administration. Public health experts say e-cigarettes are filled with an unknown amount of nicotine and other chemicals.

E-cigarette proponents say e-cigarettes have helped people quit smoking, though the FDA doesn’t classify them as a tobacco cessation tool.

State legislators considered adding e-cigarettes to the state’s Clean Indoor Air Act in 2014, which would ban e-cigarettes in public places similar to other tobacco products. Though lawmakers didn’t resolve the issue, many municipalities have passed ordinances similar to Austin.