WASHINGTON — With a larger Democratic majority in the new Congress and an incoming Democratic administration headed by a Hawai'i native, the Akaka bill seems to have its best chance yet of passage.

But supporters of the bill also fear that Republicans may erect procedural roadblocks that they have used before to prevent the full Senate from voting on the bill since it was first introduced in 2000.

"I can say we're hopeful" about passage, said Haunani Apoliona, chairwoman of the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs. "It's an improved situation and it gives us more optimism."

The Akaka bill, nicknamed after its lead sponsor in the Senate, Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawai'i, would create a process for a Native Hawaiian government to get federal recognition.

Akaka said he was optimistic about the country's direction under the new Congress and President-elect Barack Obama, who spent most of his childhood in Hawai'i.

"I am optimistic about working with President-elect Obama, who supports federal recognition and understands Hawai'i's unique history," Akaka said.

Akaka and Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, the lead sponsor in the House, are expected to introduce the legislation in the new Congress, which begins in early January.

Abercrombie said he has "every expectation" that the House will approve the bill. The chamber did so in 2000 and again last year, only to see it stall in the Senate.

"I think some of the barriers that have been put up in the Senate can be overcome this time," Abercrombie said.

If Congress approves the legislation, Obama is expected to sign it, a commitment he made during his presidential campaign.

"This is an important bill, and if it is not signed into law this year, I commit to supporting it as president," Obama said back in January when he was campaigning. As a senator, Obama voted in 2006 to bring the bill up for a debate and vote.

But with Congress focused on reforms for the nation's financial system and other pressing issues, Abercrombie and Akaka are not expected to push for action on the bill right away.

The bill creates a process for reorganizing a Native Hawaiian government, including development of a roll of Native Hawaiians and election of an interim governing council. Once the government receives federal recognition, negotiations could take place on disposition of Native Hawaiian land, natural resources and other assets.

Abercrombie said he was reviewing the most recent version of the bill with his staff to see if any changes are needed.

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Many changes were already made to the bill to deal with some of the Justice Department's concerns. Among the changes, the current version would prohibit Native Hawaiians from bringing land claims against the United States and bar a Native Hawaiian government from authorizing gambling.

Ira Rohter, a political scientist at the University of Hawai'i, said the current bill has problems, and needs to be reassessed and discussed at new public hearings.

"It has changed enormously from when it was originally introduced," Rohter said. "A lot of people in the Hawaiian community who were proponents have peeled away from it."

Abercrombie defended the bill, saying "it's fundamentally the same bill in the sense of trying to enable Hawaiians to be able to organize themselves into a governing instrument that will allow them to address the question of their assets — the land and the funds."

The only time supporters had a chance to overcome the procedural obstacles that blocked full Senate consideration of the bill was in June 2006.

They needed 60 votes to bring the bill up for a vote, but fell four short in a 56-41 tally. All Democrats in the Senate united behind the bill and 13 Republicans joined them. All the votes against were from Republicans.

In the new Congress, Senate Democrats will have at least 56 seats and can usually count on the support of two independents who caucus with them.

One of the independents, Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, who was a Democrat in 2006, supported the bill at the time. The other independent, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, was a House member when the 2006 vote was held.

In the new Senate, Republicans will have at least 41 seats, enough to block legislation if all vote together.

But nine of the Republicans who voted for the bill in 2006 remain in the Senate, and some may support it again.

For example, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, has co-sponsored the bill several times and voted to bring it up for Senate debate. Another Republican co-sponsor, Sen. Norm Coleman of Minnesota, is leading in a recount of ballots in a close Senate race with Democratic challenger Al Franken.

Toni-Michelle Travis, a government and politics expert at George Mason University in Virginia, said she thinks the chances of the Akaka bill getting through the new Congress are "pretty good."

"I think that climate of opinion is such right now that this is the kind of bill that would go through," she said. If the Senate did block it again, she said, "it would be a huge embarrassment" for Obama.