“We must remove the last barrier to job creation in Indiana,” said Representative Brian C. Bosma, the Republican speaker of the Indiana House, who said the legislation would probably be considered when lawmakers met in January. “Time and again, those charged with bringing new jobs to Indiana have given us very specific evidence that at least a third to a half of businesses looking for where to move take Indiana off the table because we’re not a right-to-work state.”

Mr. Bosma said he was undeterred by indications from states like Ohio and Wisconsin that public opposition might follow new limits to unions. He said the circumstances were different: the other states were focusing on those in the public sector, while Indiana, which already ended collective bargaining for state employees by executive order in 2005, would deal with private-sector businesses and whether to join 22 other states that already limit union shops.

“I wouldn’t undertake it if I wasn’t confident we will succeed,” Mr. Bosma said.

In 2010, Republicans won control of Indiana’s House, giving them majorities in both chambers of the General Assembly and the governor’s office. Gov. Mitch Daniels, who is nearing the last of eight years in office, did not comment on the proposal on Monday. He said this month that he was still examining the matter but believed that the union issue was indeed costing the state jobs.

But opponents of the proposal said there was no evidence that unions in Indiana had driven anyone away.

“It’s the kind of a rerun argument you’ve heard in other states,” said Jeff Harris, a spokesman for the Indiana State A.F.L.-C.I.O., who said that 11.8 percent of workers in Indiana were in unions. “I think it’s a little bit of tone deafness out there amongst the legislators.”