I think it makes sense. Passpprts are a lot more secure than US identity cards. It's kinda silly how little security measures you guys have on your IDs.
Or have I only been seeing old ones? Do new ones have any of that shiny stuff?
Most states have phased out paper licenses in favor of newer plastic cards with more modern security features, but, the old licenses still remain valid for a while which leads to multiple variants out in the wild until everyone has been in for a renewal. Some states - like New York cited in the article - have good security features on the new licenses themselves, but the identity verification requirements to obtain the license were too weak for the federal standard.
For example in Maryland: http://www.mva.maryland.gov/drivers/apply/id-card.htm
Here's CA for example: https://dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/?1dmy&urile=wcm:path:/dmv_cont...
US federal govt issues a plenty of different ID cards.
There's also a bunch of tribal ones that are accepted.