JACKSON, Miss. — The Mississippi House has rejected an effort to punish universities for not flying the state flag that prominently features the Confederate battle emblem.

All eight of the state’s public universities have furled the flag in recent years amid criticism that it’s racially insensitive in a state with a 38 percent black population.

Republican Rep. William Shirley of Quitman, who is white, offered an amendment Tuesday saying any university that refuses to fly the Mississippi flag could not receive bond money. It would have cost each campus about $1 million for repair and renovation projects.

“He offered this last year, and we voted it down,” Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jeff Smith, R-Columbus, told the House.

The House rejected the amendment with no debate; 52 members voted for it and 65 voted against it. All black representatives who were present rejected the amendment, as did many whites, including Republican Speaker Philip Gunn of Clinton.

Mississippi has used the flag since 1894, and voters chose to keep it in a 2001 election.

Supporters say they see history and heritage in the Confederate battle emblem.