The best news when it comes to money for the arts in South Jersey is that the June 1 deadline is fast approaching for Secretary of State DeForest Soaries Jr.'s review of arts funding.

State law says cultural projects in South Jersey should get 25 percent of the N.J. State Council on the Arts' money.

But during the past four years, the council has given $2. 1 million of South Jersey's share to North Jersey and statewide groups to put on shows in the South.

That hardly seems fair. It's downright insulting that the council believes South Jersey's arts groups are not worthy of funding and that only North Jersey groups are acceptable.

A review of these policies is long overdue, and Soaries is the right person to conduct the study.

We think Soaries is more than capable of deciphering what's going on and proposing common-sense solutions. His presentation to the council's meeting on Tuesday only boosted our confidence.

Soaries, in contrast to former Gov. Tom Kean and Assemblyman Nicholas Asselta, R-Cumberland, didn't pander to the audience or shy away from the truth: He told the group that surplus state funds are gone. It's going to be tough to get increased state funding for the arts, which right now is about $20 million a year.

Recently, he told an Assembly committee discussing arts funding that, "Defending the status quo is an inadequate response."

To say the gathering - a very pro-status quo crowd - was cool to Soaries' comments would be an understatement.

In contrast, the gathering greeted Kean and Asselta like teen-age girls welcoming 'N Sync to the stage. And why not? Kean and Asselta told the group what it wanted to hear.

Kean said arts funding should be increased. Nothing wrong with that concept, but, given the state's current fiscal situation, it seems to be nothing but wishful thinking.

If Kean would like to offer specific cuts in current state spending or additional tax hikes to raise more money for the arts, he's invited to write a column. We'll be happy to publish it.

If he does write, we would ask that he explain why the arts council, which is reluctant to write checks for South Jersey projects, should be in charge of distributing this additional money.

Asselta told the gathering that he's happy with his county's piece of the arts pie. Of course he is. Projects in Cumberland, a county roughly one-third the population of Camden County, received $647,630 from the council in fiscal year 2000.

That's roughly double the $331,700 received by all the arts groups in Camden County.

No wonder Asselta thinks the council is doing "a fantastic job."

When it comes to taking a closer look at the way public arts dollars are doled out in New Jersey, we're confident that Soaries will speak the truth. We're also confident that lawmakers then will take the information contained in that report and fix the funding formula so that South Jersey gets its fair share.