The following persons or entities are ineligible to receive funding under the RED C4T Program:
  (1) An employee of the Texas Department of Agriculture;
  (2) A family relationship of an employee of the Texas Department of Agriculture;
  (3) A principal, executive officer, director, shareholder, member, or partner of Recipient, or any subsidiary, parent, affiliate or related entity or person of Recipient;
  (4) A member of the immediate family of a principal, executive officer, director, shareholder, member, or partner of Recipient;
  (5) A related interest of a principal, executive officer, director, shareholder, member, or partner of Recipient;
  (6) A business engaged in speculative activities that develop profits from fluctuations in price rather than through normal course of trade, such as stock investments, commodities futures and currency trading;
  (7) A business that earns more than half of its annual net revenue from lending activities, unless the business is a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), Community Development Corporation or a Certified Development Company;
  (8) A business engaged in pyramid sales, where a participant's primary incentive is based on the sales made by an ever-increasing number of participants, or a multi-level marketing organization or business;
  (9) A business engaged in activities that are prohibited by federal or Texas law;
  (10) A business engaged in gambling enterprises, with the sole exception of a retail grocery or convenience store business that earns less than 33% of its annual net revenue from lottery sales;
  (11) A person if the investment would result in violation of Chapter 176 of the Texas Local Government Code;
  (12) A person (or any principal executive officer, director, shareholder, or member) who has been convicted of a felony;
  (13) A person (or any principal, executive officer, director, shareholder, or member) who has demonstrated a pattern or practice of defalcation of accounts or funds;
  (14) A person (or any principal executive officer, director, shareholder, or member) who has mis-certified his/her status as a minority and/or woman owned business enterprise;
  (15) A person (or any principal executive officer, director, shareholder, or member) who has been debarred from participating in other federal or state programs;
  (16) A person (or any principal executive officer, director, shareholder, or member) indebted to the United States of America, any agency or department of the United States of America, the state of Texas, any agency, department, instrumentality or political subdivision of the state of Texas or any other state;
  (17) A person (or any principal executive officer, director, shareholder, or member) who has been convicted of, or subjected to a civil judgment for, fraud;
  (18) A person (or any principal executive officer, director, shareholder, or member) who has been convicted of, or subjected to a civil judgment for, federal or state antitrust law violations;
  (19) A person (or any principal executive officer, director, shareholder, or member) who has been convicted of a criminal offense relating to embezzlement, theft, forgery, bribery, falsification or destruction of records, making false statements, receiving stolen property, making false claims, obstructing of justice, or conspiracy to do the same;
  (20) A person (or any principal executive officer, director, shareholder, or member) who has been convicted of a criminal offense indicating a breach of trust, dishonesty or lack of integrity, or conspiracy to do the same; and
  (21) A person (or any principal executive officer, director, shareholder, or member) who has been convicted of, or subjected to a civil penalty or judgment for, violation of state or federal ethics laws.

Source Note: The provisions of this §29.32 adopted to be effective December 29, 2020, 45 TexReg 9409