my understanding was always that you could cross INTO canada with a regular us driver's license, but couldn't RETURN except with an edl. but i may have been misinformed.
the mass rmv website does say (emphasis mine): "After October 1, 2020, you will need a REAL ID or a passport to fly within the United States or enter federal buildings."
ny and michigan do border canada, so it'd make sense that they have EDLs, but again, why not alaska? strange. well, it's probably up to the dmv/equivalent agency in each state.
also, i know my processes to get both an enhanced driver's license and a passport were more involved than the one to get a real id. don't know how or if that varies by state.
Until I played one of the Carmen games from 1995 with Lynn Thigpen, and I found a note left behind from one of her agents, I didn't realize that Carmen pays her people too Lol