[7] In 2016, the Democratic-led (PD) coalition government proposed a series of constitutional reforms with the aim of reducing the total number of parliamentarians, simplifying the legislative process, limiting the operating costs of the institutions, the disestablishment of the National Council for Economics and Labour (CNEL), and removing the perfect bicameralism in particular by greatly reducing the size and scope of the Senate.

In 2019, the PD-Five Star Movement (M5S) coalition government proposed new constitutional reforms which simply called for the reduction of the number of parliamentarians by a third; the bill was approved with the support of all the major political parties on 8 October 2019.

[8] The proposal was one of the Five Star Movement's main campaign promises during the 2018 general election, aimed at reducing the costs of politics and slashing privileges for lawmakers.

[10] According to Paragraph 3 of the Article, the subdivision of seats among the electoral districts is obtained by dividing the number of inhabitants of the country – given by the latest general census of the population – by a factor of 392 (also changed by the new law from the previous factor of 618) and distributing the seats in proportion to the population in each electoral district, on the basis of whole shares and the highest remainders.

Previously, the provision governing the number of life senators was ambiguous, and had been interpreted as allowing each president to appoint five each, cumulating to a total above five.

[10] The changes to Articles 56 and 57 were to take effect after either the end of the incumbent legislature, or at the next dissolution of Parliament, and not earlier than 60 days after the promulgation of the constitutional law.

Riccardo Molinari, party leader of the League in the Chamber of Deputies, asked for parliament to be dissolved and new elections to be held, in order to fulfill the objective of the constitutional law.