I understand their rationale, but the problem is that unless your state protects you from nonsense, they are still written in a way where they literally are say

I understand their rationale, but the problem is that unless your state protects you from nonsense, they are still written in a way where they literally are saying they own everything you do outside of the job. Likely? Who knows. But if an employer was really interested in the value of one of your projects, they could potentially bring up a suit against you for it.