The Senate passed a bill 92-7 on Thursday to extend the deadline for business owners to apply for forgivable loans through the Paycheck Protection Program, giving applicants two more months to apply for federal aid.

The bill had already passed the House, so it now goes to President Joe Biden’s desk to be signed into law. Congress started the loan program last year to help businesses survive the COVID-19 pandemic.

The deadline for applications would be extended to May 31 under the bill, and the federal government would have until June 30 to process the applications.

The COVID-19 relief bill that Biden signed into law this month included another $7.25 billion for the program, but it did not extend the timeline for getting the loans. Business groups lobbied lawmakers to keep the program going to help ensure businesses that still need help can get it.

The Small Business Administration reports that it has approved nearly 7.9 million loans totaling about $704 billion.

The loans are structured so that they can be fully forgiven if the recipient attempts to maintain similar levels of employment and uses at least 60 percent of the loan to cover payroll costs. The remaining 40 percent can be spent of rent, utility costs and other operational expenses.

“This bipartisan legislation comes at a time when small business owners are still grappling with the economic effects of the pandemic and extending the Paycheck Protection Program, even for just a short time to exhaust existing funding, will help some of the small businesses that need it most,” said Neil Bradley, executive vice president and chief policy officer, U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The Independent Community Bankers of America in a statement thanked Congress for the extension, pointing out that under the existing law, small businesses that had submitted loans before the March 31 deadline would not have received funds on loan requests not approved by the deadline.

“ICBA thanks Congress for quickly passing this much-needed extension of the Paycheck Protection Program to ensure small-business and nonprofit applicants are not stranded by an abrupt shutdown,” ICBA President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey said in the statement. “With community banks providing more than 60 percent of PPP loans and saving an estimated 33.7 million jobs, we strongly support ensuring every potential borrower that needs a loan gets one.”

The ICBA added that the organization would continue to advocate for other changes to the program, including allowing borrowers with forgiven loans to increase the amount of that first loan, letting those who applied for a first-draw loan in 2021 also get a second loan, and allowing Schedule C filers to apply to increase past loan amounts using new SBA rules based on the gross income method.

The American Bankers Association said in a statement that it would continue to work with the SBA on addressing operational issues affecting the program.

“Banks of all sizes have stepped up during the pandemic to strongly support this unprecedented program and deliver more than $675 billion in PPP loans to small businesses, helping to support millions of jobs in the process,” Rob Nichols, ABA president and CEO, said in the statement. “We will continue to work in partnership with the SBA to identify and address operational issues that are keeping the program from reaching its full potential. Providing an additional two months for small business borrowers to access PPP funding and an extra month for SBA to process PPP loans is a common-sense step that will support the economic recovery.”

Staff writer Diane McLaughlin contributed to this report.