Secretary of State William Galvin sent a letter to Rep. Richard Neal (D-Massachusetts), ranking member of the tax-writing Ways & Means Committee and dean of the Massachusetts delegation, urging him to preserve the home mortgage interest deduction.

“Because of the increase in the prices of residential homes in Massachusetts and the corresponding increase in the amount of mortgages needed by buyers to complete these transactions,” Galvin wrote, “the elimination or reduction of the mortgage interest deductions may very well cripple the housing market in Massachusetts and as a result cause substantial damage to our state’s economy.”

In his two-page letter to Neal, Galvin said he consulted with Massachusetts Association of Realtor president Paul Yorkis who agreed and said eliminating or substantially eliminating the deductions would be “devastating to the Massachusetts housing market.”

Galvin went on to say that discussions about potential changes to the deductions should be public and not “the subject of closed-door bargaining.”