TALLAHASSEE — Retiree MaryAnn Kaesberg went to her library in Seminole County recently to research stocks and mutual funds like she usually does, only to find the popular Morningstar Sustainalytics research website was blocked.

A librarian told her it was because the state had added Morningstar to a list of companies prohibited from doing business with Florida because of policies that boycott Israel or list companies doing business in the West Bank as high-risk.

“Morningstar cannot continue its service with our library as they have been placed on Florida’s ‘Scrutinized Companies that boycott Israel’ list by the state of Florida,” library officials told Kaesberg in an email.

Library officials confirmed to the Orlando Sentinel that Morningstar told them it made the decision to cancel the district’s $10,400 a year subscription when it was up for renewal in January because of the decision to place it on the “scrutinized companies” list.

“I have never heard of this list. We cannot imagine why the publication is being scrutinized. Are they censoring adults as well as children in Florida?” Kaesberg told the Sentinel. “I am not sure if their other products are causing them to be scrutinized. This is an expensive publication, which has been offered for years by the library. I miss having access to it.”

Morningstar said its services had been cut off in Florida.

“It is true that we could not renew contracts for Morningstar Sustainalytics clients that are Florida government entities,” said company spokeswoman Sarah Wirth.

She wouldn’t say how many other library districts, universities, colleges or other state agencies have had their subscriptions canceled but said the company “would look to resume services to affected clients” once it is removed from the list.

A check of Orange, Alachua and Leon counties this week showed they still provided the service.

On Tuesday, Florida officials took a step toward taking the company off the list, after receiving a report that Morningstar had changed its policies based on recommendations from experts in Israeli-Palestinian affairs.

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