Adding & Removing Team Members

Give your colleagues access to State Affairs or remove access for departing employees—all through the self-service portal's Team Members section.

Before You Start

You need:

  • Admin permissions (Members cannot manage team members)

  • The person's email address (for adding)

  • An available seat to assign (for adding)

Note: Inviting someone doesn't create a new seat—it assigns them to an existing seat. If all seats are in use, you'll need to either reassign an existing seat or request additional seats first.

Accessing Team Members

  1. Log into State Affairs at pro.stateaffairs.com

  2. Click your profile icon (top-right) → Settings

  3. Click the "Team Members" tab

You'll see a list of everyone with access to your account.

Adding a New Team Member

Step-by-Step: Invite a Colleague

1. Click "+ Invite Member" button (top-right, blue button)

2. Fill out the invitation form:

  • Email address (required) - Their work email

  • First name - Their first name

  • Last name - Their last name

  • Role - Choose Admin or Member (see below for guidance)

  • Seat assignment - Select which state/tier to give them access to

3. Click "Send Invitation"

What Happens Next

Within 5 minutes:

  • The new user receives an invitation email

  • Email includes a secure link to activate their account

When they click the link:

  • They're taken to a password creation page

  • They create their own password

  • They gain immediate access to State Affairs

Invitation expiration: Invitations expire after 7 days. If they don't accept within a week, you can resend the invitation from the Team Members page.

Choosing Their Role: Admin vs. Member

Make them a Member if they only need to:

  • Track bills and legislation

  • Set keyword alerts

  • Create reports

  • Use platform features

Make them an Admin if they also need to:

  • Invite or remove team members

  • Manage billing and subscriptions

  • Reassign seats

  • Access account settings

  • Download invoices

Security best practice: Default to Member. Only make someone Admin if they truly need full account management capabilities.

Can you change their role later? Yes! Roles can be changed anytime. Start with Member and upgrade if needed.

Assigning Them a Seat

When inviting someone, you must assign them to an available seat. Each seat provides:

  • Access to specific state(s)

  • A tier level (News, Pro, or Enterprise)

  • Platform features based on that tier

What you'll see in the dropdown:

  • "Indiana - Pro (1 available)"

  • "California - News (0 available)"

If you see "(0 available)": All seats for that state/tier are in use. You'll need to either:

  1. Reassign an existing seat - Remove someone who no longer needs it and give it to the new person

  2. Request additional seats - Contact us to add more licenses

Can they access multiple states? Only if you have seats for multiple states. Each person is assigned to one seat, which determines which states they can access.

Removing Team Members

When to Remove Access

Remove someone when:

  • Employee leaves the company

  • Contractor project ends

  • User no longer needs State Affairs access

  • Freeing up a seat for someone else

  • Security concern (compromised account)

Don't remove someone if: They're just temporarily not using it. Deactivated users don't count toward your seat limit, so you can always reactivate them later if needed.

Step-by-Step: Deactivate a User

1. Find the user in your Team Members list

Use the search box if you have many team members.

2. Click the three-dot menu (⋮) in the Actions column

3. Select "Deactivate"

4. Confirm the deactivation

You'll see a warning: "This user will immediately lose access."

5. Click "Confirm" or "Deactivate User"

What Happens When You Deactivate Someone

Immediate effects:

  • ✅ User immediately loses access to State Affairs

  • ✅ They can no longer log in

  • ✅ Their seat becomes available for reassignment

  • ✅ They move to the "INACTIVE" tab

  • ✅ Their tracked bills, keywords, and notes remain in the system

Email notification? The user does NOT receive an email notification. If you want to inform them, send a separate email.

Can they be reactivated? Yes! Deactivated users can be reactivated anytime. Their profile, settings, and work are preserved.

Managing Existing Team Members

Viewing Your Team

Active tab: Shows everyone with current access
Inactive tab: Shows deactivated users (can be reactivated)

Team member table shows:

  • Name

  • Email address

  • Role (Admin or Member)

  • Seat assignment (which state/tier)

  • Actions menu (⋮)

Searching for Team Members

Use the search box when you have many users.

You can search by:

  • First or last name

  • Email address

  • Partial matches work

Examples:

  • Search "john" → finds John Smith, Johnny Doe

  • Search "@company.com" → finds all users from that domain

  • Search "admin" → won't work (searches names/emails, not roles)

Changing Someone's Role

To promote a Member to Admin:

  1. Find the user in the table

  2. Click their "Role" dropdown

  3. Select "Admin"

  4. Changes take effect immediately

To demote an Admin to Member:

  1. Find the user in the table

  2. Click their "Role" dropdown

  3. Select "Member"

  4. They immediately lose admin privileges

Warning: Be careful who you make Admin. They can:

  • Invite and remove users

  • Access billing information

  • Reassign seats

  • Change other users' roles

Only give Admin access to trusted team members who need these capabilities.

Reactivating a Former User

To bring someone back:

  1. Click the "INACTIVE" tab

  2. Find the user who needs access again

  3. Click the three-dot menu (⋮)

  4. Select "Reactivate"

  5. Assign them to an available seat

  6. Confirm

What returns:

  • ✅ Their login access is restored

  • ✅ Their previous settings (notifications, default state)

  • ✅ Their tracked bills and keywords

  • ✅ Their notes and work

Do they need a new password? No. Their original password still works. If they forgot it, they can use the "Forgot Password" feature on the login page.

Common Team Management Tasks

How to: Give a Contractor Temporary Access

Scenario: You hired a consultant for a 3-month project.

  1. Click "+ Invite Member"

  2. Enter their email

  3. Set Role to Member (they don't need admin access)

  4. Assign to an available seat

  5. Send invitation

When project ends:

  1. Deactivate their access

  2. Seat becomes available for the next person

  3. Can reactivate later if they return

How to: Replace a Departing Employee

Scenario: Sarah is leaving, and John is taking over her work.

Option 1: Reassign Sarah's Seat

  1. Invite John first (he needs to exist in the system)

  2. Go to Account Overview → My Seats → Reassign Seats

  3. Select Sarah's seat → Reassign to John

  4. Sarah immediately loses access, John immediately gains it

Option 2: Deactivate Then Invite

  1. Deactivate Sarah (her seat becomes available)

  2. Invite John

  3. Assign him to the now-available seat

Benefit of Option 1: No gap in seat usage. Benefit of Option 2:** Cleaner audit trail.

How to: Add Multiple People at Once

Scenario: Onboarding 5 new hires.

  1. Make sure you have 5 available seats

  2. Click "+ Invite Member"

  3. Fill out form for first person → Send

  4. Click "+ Invite Member" again

  5. Repeat for each person

No bulk upload yet: You need to invite each person individually. Plan for 2-3 minutes per person.

Tip: Open the invite form, fill it out, send it. Open again, fill, send. Gets faster with repetition.

How to: See Who Currently Has Access

  1. Go to Team Members tab

  2. Click "ACTIVE" tab (should be selected by default)

  3. Everyone listed has current access

  4. Check their "Seat Type" to see what they can access

Export the list? Not currently available. You can take a screenshot or manually copy the information if needed for reporting.

How to: Free Up a Seat for Someone New

Scenario: All seats in use, but someone no longer needs access.

  1. Identify who no longer needs State Affairs

  2. Deactivate that person (three-dot menu → Deactivate)

  3. Their seat becomes available immediately

  4. Invite the new person and assign them to the now-available seat

Don't delete their account unnecessarily. Deactivated users don't count toward your seat limit and can be reactivated later if needed.

How to: Audit Your Team Access

Good practice: Review team access quarterly.

  1. Go to Team Members → Active tab

  2. For each person, ask yourself:

    • Do they still work here?

    • Do they still need State Affairs access?

    • Is their role (Admin/Member) still appropriate?

  3. Deactivate anyone who no longer needs access

  4. Downgrade Admins to Members if they don't need full access

  5. Check Inactive tab - anyone need to be reactivated?

Why audit regularly?

  • Security (remove access for departed employees)

  • Cost efficiency (don't pay for unused seats)

  • Compliance (maintain accurate user records)

Troubleshooting Team Management

"I don't see the + Invite Member button"

Cause: You need Admin permissions. Members cannot invite users.

Solution: Ask your account administrator to either:

  • Upgrade your role to Admin

  • Invite the new user for you

"No available seats to assign"

Cause: All your seats are currently in use.

Solutions:

  1. Reassign an existing seat - Remove someone who no longer needs it

  2. Request additional seats - Go to Account Overview → Add seat/state

  3. Upgrade a seat - Contact us to upgrade from News to Pro (gives you more functionality, not more people)

Check your seat count: Go to Account Overview → My Seats to see how many you have and how many are in use.

"User didn't receive invitation email"

Common causes:

  • Email went to spam/junk folder

  • Wrong email address entered

  • Corporate email filters blocked it

Solutions:

  1. Ask them to check spam/junk folder

  2. Add noreply@stateaffairs.com to their safe senders list

  3. Verify you entered the correct email address

  4. Resend the invitation (three-dot menu → Resend invitation)

  5. Contact support@stateaffairs.com if it still doesn't arrive

"Invitation expired"

Cause: Invitations expire after 7 days if not accepted.

Solution:

  1. Find the user in Team Members (they'll show as "Invited" status)

  2. Click three-dot menu → "Resend invitation"

  3. New invitation is sent with a fresh 7-day window

  4. Ask them to accept it promptly

"Can't deactivate a user"

Cause: You might not have Admin permissions, or there may be a system issue.

Solutions:

  1. Verify you're logged in as an Admin

  2. Try refreshing the page

  3. Try a different browser

  4. Contact support@stateaffairs.com if you still can't deactivate

"Deactivated the wrong person"

Quick fix:

  1. Click "INACTIVE" tab immediately

  2. Find the person you just deactivated

  3. Click three-dot menu → "Reactivate"

  4. Assign them back to their seat

  5. They'll regain access immediately

No permanent damage: Deactivation doesn't delete anything. All their work is preserved.

Best Practices

Default to Member Role

Only make someone Admin if they truly need to manage the account. Most users just need platform access (Member role).

Deactivate Promptly

Remove access the same day someone leaves. Don't wait weeks—it's a security risk.

Keep Contact Info Updated

If someone changes email addresses, update their profile or create a new invitation.

Document Seat Assignments

Keep a spreadsheet showing who has which seat. Makes auditing easier.

Communicate Changes

Tell people when you're adding or removing their access. Don't let it be a surprise.

Use Inactive Tab

Don't permanently delete users. Deactivate them so you can reactivate later if needed.

Regular Audits

Review team access quarterly. Remove unnecessary access, update roles as needed.

Understanding Seat Limits

Key concept: You can invite unlimited users, but you can only have as many ACTIVE users as you have seats.

Example:

  • You have 5 seats

  • You can have 5 active users

  • You can have 100 inactive users

  • Only the 5 active users count toward your limit

Seats vs. Users:

  • Seats = Licenses you're paying for

  • Active users = People currently using those seats

  • Inactive users = Former users who can be reactivated

Can't assign someone without an available seat? You need to either:

  1. Deactivate someone else first

  2. Reassign an existing seat

  3. Request additional seats (may increase cost)

Security Considerations

Remove Access Promptly

When someone leaves your organization, deactivate their access the same day. Lingering access is a security risk.

Limit Admin Roles

Only 2-3 trusted people should be Admins. Everyone else should be Members.

Monitor Inactive Users

Review your Inactive tab periodically. If someone was deactivated months ago and won't return, you can leave them there (doesn't hurt anything).

Use Work Emails

Always use company/work email addresses for invitations. Personal emails make it harder to track organizational access.

Audit After Departures

When someone with Admin access leaves, review what they had access to and ensure no unauthorized changes were made.

Need help managing your team? Contact support@stateaffairs.com

Team Members: Settings → Team Members tab