I just wish all the states could get their act together and make everything uniform. Old IDP -> ARE path or whatever, so long as we all are on the same page.

I don't think you're ever going to get all the states "on the same page". I think NCARB would love that and has been trying for its whole existence to adopt the same rules.
But I have no reason to think that they'll ever all agree. You've got the states that have been allowing early various forms of testing all along (Vermont, Texas, California, Wisconsin, Florida, etc.), and the states that very rigidly don't allow it (like Oregon, whose board already won't grant a first license to someone who took the tests early through another state before finishing IDP, unless they re-test or get licensed somewhere else and apply for reciprocicty.) And you've got the states that are vocally anti-NCARB (like California who managed to create its own partially independent system, and Texas who decided it couldn't afford to do that even though it would like to).
And you've got the 15 or so states that allow those with no college degrees at all to become registered if they intern for long enough, and the states who won't budge one bit on the requirement for a professional degree and IDP - to the point that they won't even grant reciprocity to those with decades of experience as licensed architects in other states who go through NCARB's Broadly Experienced certification process...

The states have never been on the same page, so I'm not holding my breath.

hmmm...shouldn't the national professional organization of architects (you know...) be more involved in this?

Ahhhh, the toothless wonder that is the AIA.

The AIA does issue their official stances on these issues. Usually they agree with NCARB, though sometimes not exactly.
They more or less agree with NCARB on the early testing policy (the official AIA stance is that early testing should be allowed. NCARB says they intend to allow most of the tests to be taken before completion of IDP, but that two or three of the tests will not be allowed to be taken until completion of IDP. They haven't announced yet which tests those will be.)

Ultimately it is the states that have the only power to make these decisions. The AIA has no regulatory power - it's a professional organization, not a legislative entity. NCARB on its own has no regulatory power either. NCARB has a contractual relathionship with each state board, and it differs with each. It is only the state boards that can enact and enforce laws and regulations.