Once you have the job, you're a black box that takes inputs and spits out work outputs in return for a monthly payment, and the company doesn't need to care where you actually are doing the work, as long as the black box works to specs (the JD).

What’s to keep you from getting a job that’s ostensibly in Washington state and then moving to California? I believe that’s called, “tax evasion.”

On your end, you (the individual) are required to file an income tax return with the state you reside in. If you lie and say you are unemployed that's very obviously fraud.

Whether the company you work for is willing to deal with any extra tax paperwork that might be required if you relocate is of course an open question.

You might be surprised

> What happens 3 years later..

Find a new remote job? There were remote jobs before the pandemic; can't imagine they would all dry up.