The South Carolina House of Representatives dealt a debilitating blow today to Gov. David Beasley's proposal to remove the Confederate battle flag from atop the dome of the Capitol.

Widening the schism between Republicans over the flag, the Republican-controlled House rejected the Republican Governor's proposal and instead passed a bill calling for a statewide referendum on the issue in November. Leaders of the Senate, where the Democrats have a majority, oppose that measure, and it is unclear whether a compromise can be reached.

South Carolina is the only state that flies the Confederate battle flag over its Capitol, a gesture that many whites see as a tribute to their Southern heritage but that many blacks see as a symbol of latent racism. The flag was first raised over the Capitol in 1962, largely to express defiance of the civil rights movement.

Mr. Beasley, the great-great-great-grandson of a Confederate soldier, supported the continued flying of the flag when he was running for Governor in 1994, and in a nonbinding referendum that year, 3 out of 4 voters in that year's Republican primary agreed with him.