COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - Former South Carolina Rep. Bill Cotty, a champion for public education who helped bring the Confederate flag off the Statehouse dome, has died. He was 69.
His wife, Amelia, told The Associated Press that Cotty died at home in Columbia on Saturday after battling lung cancer.
Cotty helped develop the compromise that moved the Confederate flag from the dome to the Statehouse lawn in 2000. It was removed from the grounds entirely a year ago, after authorities say a young white man who had posed with the flag killed nine black church members during a Bible study.
A native of Buffalo, New York, Cotty served in the South Carolina Army National Guard for 38 years. He was first elected in 1994 and served 14 years in the South Carolina House.