Ellis lobbies for bill on YouTube

JUNEAU - Alaska's Senate Majority Leader is lobbying for a bill creating postsecondary scholarships on the Internet Web site YouTube.

Sen. Johnny Ellis says most of Alaskans he hopes to help with this bill rely on technology to access information.

So, the Anchorage Democrat says it was a natural for him to use that technology to reach them by posting his video touting Senate Bill 33.

He's even encouraging Alaskans to submit their own videos to lobby other members of the Alaska Legislature to get the bill passed, and e-mail the YouTube links to their representatives.

Ellis is not the first to turn to emerging technology to reach more constituents. Sen. Lesil McGuire, an Anchorage Republican, provides Twitter updates - or "tweets" - from the Legislature.