[masonic]

>it irritates me how many states have chosen to retain a noncompliant ID tier in order to avoid eating costs or raising fees

That's not why. States like California have dragged their feet for a decade with RealID compliance because they want to keep IDs for people in the US illegally indistinguishable from those for citizens, permanent residents, and others here legally.

[PeterisP]

That's interesting, I can imagine why certain groups would want that but not really why the state itself would want it; and if they would, why can't they just explicitly pass a law granting those people whatever rights they want to grant.

Can you elaborate on this for us non-USA people?