Managing Notification Preferences
Control when and how State Affairs sends you email alerts. Get real-time updates for critical bills or batch everything into a single daily digest—you decide.
Accessing Profile Settings
Log into State Affairs at pro.stateaffairs.com
Click your profile icon (top-right) → Settings
Click the "Profile Settings" tab
Note: Both Members and Admins can manage their own notification preferences. These settings are personal—they don't affect other team members.
Understanding Notification Types
State Affairs has two types of notifications:
1. Bill Updates
Alerts when tracked bills change status, get amended, pass committees, or have other legislative actions.
Examples of bill updates:
Bill introduced
Referred to committee
Committee hearing scheduled
Bill amended
Passed committee
Floor vote scheduled
Signed into law
2. Keyword Alerts
Alerts when your saved keywords match content in bills, hearings, news articles, or transcripts.
Examples of keyword matches:
New bill text contains your keyword
Hearing transcript mentions your keyword
News article includes your keyword
Bill amendment adds your keyword
Notification Delivery Options
For each type (Bill Updates and Keywords), you can control:
Real-time notifications - Immediate emails as things happen
Daily digest - All updates batched into one summary email
You can use one, both, or neither.
Configuring Bill Updates Notifications
Real-time Notifications (Checkbox)
When CHECKED (enabled):
✅ You receive immediate email when a tracked bill updates
✅ Email sent within minutes of the legislative action
✅ Separate email for each bill that changes
When to enable:
Active legislative session with fast-moving bills
Time-sensitive legislation you must act on quickly
Critical bills requiring immediate awareness
You check email throughout the day
When UNCHECKED (disabled):
❌ No immediate alerts for bill changes
✅ Changes are included in daily digest (if enabled)
When to disable:
Tracking many bills (would get overwhelmed)
Not actively monitoring right now
Prefer batched summary over constant alerts
Daily Digest (Dropdown)
Choose when you want your daily summary:
⬜ None - No daily digest
Use this if: You only want real-time alerts OR you don't want email notifications at all
⬜ 6 AM EST - Early morning, before workday
Use this if: You want to review updates before starting work
☑ 12 PM EST - Lunchtime (most popular)
Use this if: You check emails at lunch
⬜ 6 PM EST - End of workday
Use this if: You want end-of-day recap
What's in the daily digest:
Summary of all bill updates from the past 24 hours
Organized by bill
Includes bills from your tracked lists and groups
Shows what action occurred for each bill
Recommended Bill Update Settings
For most users:
✅ Real-time: Disabled
✅ Daily digest: 12 PM
Why this works: One email at lunchtime with everything that happened since yesterday. Not overwhelming, nothing missed.
For high-priority bills:
✅ Real-time: Enabled
✅ Daily digest: 12 PM
Why this works: Critical changes arrive immediately, plus daily backup summary. Best of both worlds.
For casual monitoring:
✅ Real-time: Disabled
✅ Daily digest: 6 PM
Why this works: End-of-day recap, no urgency, catch up when convenient.
Configuring Keyword Notifications
Real-time Notifications (Checkbox)
When CHECKED (enabled):
✅ Immediate email when content matches your keywords
✅ Could be multiple emails per day if keywords are broad
✅ Instant awareness of relevant content
When to enable:
Monitoring specific terms of high importance
Need immediate notification of policy developments
Keyword is narrow and won't match frequently
Actively working on that issue right now
When UNCHECKED (disabled):
❌ No immediate keyword alerts
✅ Matches included in daily digest (if enabled)
When to disable:
Keywords are broad (would get too many emails)
Monitoring passively
Prefer summary over constant alerts
Keywords match very frequently
Daily Digest (Dropdown)
Same time options as Bill Updates:
⬜ None
⬜ 6 AM EST
☑ 12 PM EST (most popular)
⬜ 6 PM EST
What's in the keyword digest:
All keyword matches from the past 24 hours
Organized by keyword
Shows where the keyword appeared (bill, hearing, news)
Links to full content
Recommended Keyword Settings
For most users:
✅ Real-time: Disabled
✅ Daily digest: 12 PM (same time as Bill Updates)
Why this works: Everything arrives together at lunchtime. One email, all your updates.
For critical keywords:
✅ Real-time: Enabled
✅ Daily digest: 12 PM
Why this works: High-priority terms notify immediately, broader monitoring in daily summary.
For broad keywords:
✅ Real-time: Disabled
✅ Daily digest: 6 PM
Why this works: Broad keywords match often. Daily summary prevents email overload.
Common Notification Scenarios
"Too Many Emails!"
Problem: Getting overwhelmed by constant notifications.
Solution:
Go to Profile Settings
Disable real-time for both Bill Updates and Keywords
Enable daily digest at one time (12 PM recommended)
Save changes
Result: Instead of 20 emails throughout the day, you get 1 email at noon with everything.
"Missing Critical Updates"
Problem: Daily digest means you find out too late.
Solution:
Go to Profile Settings
Enable real-time for Bill Updates
Keep daily digest at 12 PM as backup
Save changes
Result: Critical bill changes arrive immediately, plus daily recap ensures nothing missed.
"Only Want Emails for Specific Bills"
Problem: Want alerts for some bills but not others.
Current limitation: Notification settings apply to ALL your tracked bills. Can't selectively enable for some bills only.
Workaround:
Create a Group for "High Priority" bills
Enable real-time notifications
Check your High Priority group regularly
Use daily digest for everything else
Future feature: Per-bill notification settings are on our roadmap.
"Want Different Times for Bills vs. Keywords"
Can you do this? Yes! Bill Updates and Keywords have separate time settings.
Example setup:
Bill Updates: Daily at 6 AM (morning briefing)
Keywords: Daily at 6 PM (end-of-day recap)
Result: Two separate emails at different times.
Most users prefer: Same time for both (less email clutter).
"No Emails at All"
Problem: Want to check platform manually, no emails.
Solution:
Go to Profile Settings
Disable real-time for both types
Set daily digest to "None" for both types
Save changes
Result: Zero notification emails. Check the platform when you want updates.
Caution: Easy to miss important developments. Consider at least enabling daily digest.
"Multiple Emails for Same Update"
Why this happens: You might have:
Same bill tracked in multiple groups
Overlapping keyword and bill tracking
This is normal: One email per notification rule triggered.
To reduce:
Consolidate tracking (remove duplicates from groups)
Disable real-time if getting too many
Use daily digest to batch everything together
Setting Your Default State
In Profile Settings, you can also set your default state (which state appears when you log in).
What this does: When you log into State Affairs, you'll automatically see this state's news and bills first.
How to change:
In Profile Settings, find "Default State" dropdown
Select your preferred state
Changes save automatically
When to change:
You primarily work on a different state now
Juggling multiple states and want to change starting point
Recently gained access to new state
This is just a convenience. You can always switch states from the main navigation.
Changing Your Password
While in Profile Settings, you can also change your password.
When to change:
Every 6 months (security best practice)
Suspect account compromise
Shared password and want to revoke access
Company security policy requires it
How to change:
Click "Change Password" button (bottom of Profile Settings)
Enter current password
Enter new password
Confirm new password
Save
You'll be logged out and need to log back in
Password tips:
Use 12+ characters
Mix letters, numbers, symbols
Don't reuse passwords from other sites
Use a password manager
More details: See Changing Your Password article.
How Notification Changes Take Effect
Real-time Notifications
Changes apply immediately:
Enable real-time → Next bill update or keyword match triggers email
Disable real-time → No more immediate emails (but may be in queue)
In-flight emails: If an email is already being sent when you disable, it may still arrive.
Daily Digest
Changes apply to next digest:
Change time from 12 PM to 6 PM → Takes effect tomorrow at 6 PM
Disable digest → No digest sent tomorrow
Enable digest → First digest arrives tomorrow at chosen time
Today's digest: If the digest time already passed today, your changes affect tomorrow's digest.
Testing Your Settings
Want to confirm settings work?
Make changes in Profile Settings
Save
Wait for next digest time (or trigger real-time with a bill action)
Check your inbox
Not receiving emails at all?
Check spam/junk folder
Add noreply@stateaffairs.com to contacts
Verify email address is correct in your profile
Contact support@stateaffairs.com if still not receiving
Troubleshooting Notifications
"Not receiving any emails"
Checklist:
✅ Check spam folder: State Affairs emails might be filtered
✅ Whitelist sender: Add noreply@stateaffairs.com to safe senders
✅ Verify settings: Real-time or daily digest enabled?
✅ Check email address: Is it correct in your profile?
✅ Corporate filters: IT department blocking emails?
Still not working? Contact support@stateaffairs.com with:
Your email address
Notification settings (screenshot helpful)
Whether you checked spam
"Receiving too many emails"
Quick fix:
Disable real-time notifications
Enable daily digest at one time
Consider broader keywords (fewer matches)
Long-term solution:
Audit your tracked bills (remove inactive ones)
Review keywords (too broad?)
Use groups to organize (easier to manage)
"Emails arriving at wrong time"
Check timezone: Settings use EST (Eastern Standard Time).
If you're in a different timezone:
12 PM EST = 9 AM PST (Pacific)
12 PM EST = 3 PM PST (Pacific)
Choose time based on EST, not your local time.
Workaround: Convert your desired local time to EST and select accordingly.
"Getting duplicate emails"
Possible causes:
Same bill tracked in multiple groups → Expected behavior
Both real-time and daily digest enabled → Working as designed
Technical issue → Contact support
To reduce duplicates:
Consolidate tracking (one group per bill)
Choose real-time OR daily digest, not both
"Can't change notification settings"
Try:
Refresh the page
Clear browser cache
Try different browser
Log out and back in
Still stuck? Contact support@stateaffairs.com.
Best Practices
Start Conservative
Begin with daily digest only. Add real-time if you need faster alerts. Easier to add notifications than dial them back.
Same Time for Both
Set Bill Updates and Keywords to the same digest time. One email, all updates, less clutter.
Review Quarterly
Every 3 months, review your notification settings. Still working for you? Adjust as needed.
Use Folders
Create email folders/filters for State Affairs notifications. Keeps inbox organized.
Don't Disable Everything
At minimum, enable daily digest. Easy to miss critical updates with zero notifications.
Related Articles
Changing Your Password - How to update your password in Profile Settings
Managing Custom Labels - Organize bills for better tracking
Understanding Keyword Alerts - How to create effective keywords
Creating Groups and Reports - Organize tracked bills into groups
Questions about notifications? Contact support@stateaffairs.com
Profile Settings: Settings → Profile Settings tab